THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 


COMMODORE  BYRON  MCCANDLESS 


SHEL 

[Oct.,  1883,  20,0( 

BOSTOF 


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returned  at. 

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Tie  rect 


TRAVELS 


IN 


THE  UNITED  STATES, 


ETC. 


SDnring  1840  anb  1850. 


BY     THE 


LADY  EMMELINE  STUART  WORTLEY. 


N  E  W  Y  O  R  K : 

HARPER   &   BROTHERS,   PUBLISHERS, 
82    CLIFF    STREET. 

1851. 


is  UnUmr  is 


TO     THE 


COUNTESS   OF   CHESTERFIELD, 


BY 


HER  MOST  AFFECTIONATE  COUSIN, 


THE  AUTHORESS. 


College 
Library 


P  R  E  F  AC  E. 

I  LEFT  England  fully  determined  against  writing  a  book  of 
travels,  nay,  I  would  not  even  keep  a  Journal  during  our  wan- 
derings, lest  I  should  be  tempted  to  jot  down,  and  ultimately  to 
publish,  my  impressions  of  the  society  and  institutions  in  those 
countries  which  it  was  our  good  fortune  to  visit ;  but  since  our 
return  to  England,  friends,  to  whose  better  judgment  I  am  bound 
to  defer,  have  pressed  me  so  strongly  to  print  the  letters  which  I 
had  written  during  our  excursion,  that  I  have  consented  to  do  so, 
after  adding  somewhat,  to  give  them  the  usual  narrative  form, 
and  dividing  them  into  chapters.  This  will  account  for  the 
familiar  tone  of  the  Work,  and  for  occasional  repetitions. 

For  the  politician  or  philosopher  these  pages  will,  I  fear,  have 
little  or  no  interest ;  written  familiarly  to  relatives  and  friends  at 
home,  their  staple  is  the  gossip  of  travel ;  and  if  they  amuse  that 
large  class  to  whom  gossip  is  welcome,  and  tend  in  any  way  to 
strengthen  kindly  feelings  in  the  breasts  of  my  English  readers 
toward  the  people  from  whom  their  wandering  countrywoman 
received  so  much  and  such  constant  courtesy  and  hospitality,  I 
shall  not  regret  giving  to  the  world  this  Work. 


BXLVOIR  CASTLK,  1851. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Arrival  at  New  York — First  View  of  Broadway — Summer  Costume  of  the 
Ladies — Description  of  New  York — Its  Suburbs  and  Islands — Its  Fortifica- 
tions— Prepare  to  start  for  Niagara 13 

CHAPTER  II. 

Detained  at  Albany — Wreck  of  the  "Empire"  Steamer — American  Indiffer- 
ence to  human  Life — The  theatrical  Riot  and  Massacre  caused  by  Mr.  For- 
rest's Jealousy  of  Macready — Sympathy  of  the  Lady  for  the  Captain  of  the 
"  Empire" — High-sounding  Names  of  Towns — The  Hudson — Hotels  at  Al- 
bany— Description  of  Albany 17 

CHAPTER  III. 

Difficulty  of  conveying  the  Impression  caused  by  a  first  View  of  the  Falls  of 
Niagara — An  Attempt  to  do  so — The  Falls  described — A  Thunder-Storm 
over  the  great  Cataracts — The  Rainbow — Kindness  and  Courtesy  of  the 
Americans — TheirSpirit  of  Enterprise — Luxurious  Appointments  of  Ameri- 
can Steamers — The  Dimensions  of  the  Falls — Goat  Island — Quantity  of 
Water  precipitated  over  the  Falls — Grand  and  Navy  Islands 21 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Fort  Talbot — Canadian  Carriages — Vast  Extent  of  American  Woods — The 
Hotel  at  Port  Stanley — Lake  Erie — Mr.  A and  his  Family — Col.  Tal- 
bot, the  "  Last  of  the"  Mohicans" — Instance  of  the  Memory  of  North  Ameri- 
can Indians — Another  Story  of  the  same  Kind — A  Recurrence  to  Niagara — 
A  second  Thunder-Storm — American  Forests — Lake  Erie  by  Sunset — The 
Maple,  and  the  Sugar  made  from  it — Coldness  of  Canadian  Winters 27 

CHAPTER  V. 

Return  to  New  York — Courtesy  and  Hospitality  of  the  Americans — Butter- 
flies and  Humming  birds — Railroads  through  American  Forests — Rapid 
progress  of  American  Civilization — Port  Stanley — Captain  Bawbee — De- 
scription of  BuS'alo — Trading  Facilities  of  that  City — The  United  States' 
Military  Academy — Monument  to  Kosciusko — His  Garden — West  Point 
— The  Traitor  Arnold,  and  Major  Andre — Constitution  Island — Oppressive 
Heat  of  the  Weather 32 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Boston — The  Park — The  Tremont  Hotel — Its  luxurious  Appointments — Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Abbott  Lawrence — The  "  Book  of  the  World" — Description  of 
Boston;  the  Bridges — Their  immense  Length — The  Western  Avenue — 
Boston  Harbor — Anticipated  Rejoicings  on  the  Anniversary  of  American 
Independence — Boston  Newspapers  and  Reviews — Supply  of  Water  to 
the  City— Its  Docks  and  Wharves — Public  Buildings — The  State  House — 
The  Custom  House — The  Atheneeum — The  Exchange  and  Lowell  Institute 
— The  crowded  Stores — Constant  Alarm  of  Fires 36 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Plans  for  the  Future — Musical  Taste  of  the  New  Englanders — Cholera  in 
New  York — Transparency  of  the  American  Atmosphere — American  News- 
papers— Their  Personalities — A  signal  Instance — Mrs.  S.  M of  Now 

York,  and  her  family — Miss  G of  Boston — The  loud  Talking  ascribed 

to  American  Ladies — The  Town  of  Gloucester — Its  Trade 42 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Return  to  Boston— Fire  Engines  and  their  Horses — The  Cradle  of  American 
Liberty — Faneuil  Hall — Boston  Prohibition  of  Street-smoking — Statue  of 


CONTENTS. 


Washington  in  the  State  House — Anecdote  connected  with  it — A  Drum  pre- 
served in  the  State  House — Visit  to  Cambridge — Mount  Auburn — Harvard 
University — Professors  Pierce,  Silliman,  Guyon,  Sparks,  and  Agassiz — 
Live  Coral  Insects  preserved  by  Professor  Agassiz — Reflections  suggested 
by  them — Museum  of  Professor  Agassiz 45 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Plymouth — The  Pilgrim  Fathers— Mrs.  Warren,  a  Descendant  of  one  of  the 
Pilgrims — Visit  from  Mr.  Prescott  the  Historian — Graves  of  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers — Visits  from  Daniel  "Webster  and  from  Mr.  N.  P.  "Willis — Samoset 
the  Indian  Chief — Energy  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers — Altered  Face  of  their 
Country - 50 

CHAPTER  X. 

Green  Harbor,  the  Seat  of  Daniel  Webster — His  Guests — Description  of  his 
Mansion — The  Militia  General — Enterprise  of  American  Lady- travelers — 

An  Instance — Mrs.  C from  China — Great  intellectual  Powers  of  Mr. 

Webster — A  Storm — "My  Kingdom  for  a  Pin" — Anecdote  of  Lady 

— The  sole  American  with  an  aristocratic  Title — Extraordinary  Popularity 
of  Mr.  Webster  in  New  England — Anecdote  of  Mr.  Webster — That  States- 
man and  Mr.  Clay  never  Presidents  of  the  United  States — A  Cause  assigned 
— Appointment  of  illiterate  political  Postmasters — Mode  of  Living  at  Green 
Harbor 53 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Visit  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Prescott  at  Nahant — Paucity  of  Trees  there — A  mag- 
nificent Water-Melon — Beauty  of  Boston  Harbor — Poetical  additional 
Names  given  to  American  Cities — New  Bedford — Its  Population  and  Trade 
— Delicate  Politeness  of  aDescendantof  William  Penn — Martha's  Vineyard 
— The  Hostess,  her  Son  and  Daughter — Woodsville — Naushou — Its  Loveli- 
ness— The  one  Grave — Reflection  suggested  by  it — An  ancient  Place  of 
Indian  Sepulture — Verses  suggested  by  Naushon "60 

CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Blind  Asylum  at  Boston  and  LanraBridgeman — New  Haven,  "  The  City 
of  Elms" — Yale  College — Its  Objects  of  Science  and  Art — Professor  Silli- 
man,  Jun. — Governor  Yale — His  Epitaph — His  English  Connections — 
Black  domestic  Servants — Two  Opinions  of  them — A  sable  Count  D'Orsay 
— The  American  Character — Scenery  about  New  Haven — Katydids,  Tree- 
Frogs,  and  Crickets — Connecticut  Yankees 68 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Bridgeport — The  Irish  Housemaid — Ultra-Republicans  even  in  America — The 
great  Croton  Aqueduct  described — Supply  of  Water  to  New  York — New 
York  Trotters — Delmonico's  Hotel— Excursion  with  American  Friends 
— Glorious  Scenery  of  Staten  Island — Greenwood  Cemetery — Its  Extent, 
Scenery,  and  Monuments — Miss  Lynch  the  Poetess  and  Fredrika  Bremer  73 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Philadelphia — Incessant  Uproar  in  that  City — Its  Custom  House  and  Ceme- 
teries— Baltimore — Battle  and  Washington  Monuments — The  Catholic  Ca- 
thedral— The  Merchants'  Shot-tower — Its  Trade  and  Commerce — Its  In- 
crease and  Population — Baltimore  Clippers — Barnum's  Hotel — Sensitive- 
ness of  Americans  to  cold— The  Deaf  Gentleman  and  his  Stentorian  Friend 
Anthracite  Coal  Fires 78 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  City  of  Washington — Pennsylvania  Avenue — The  "City  of  Magnificent 
Distances" — The  Stentorian  Gentleman  and  his  Hogs — The  Capitol  de- 
scribed— Monument  to  Washington — The  Navy  Yard — Georgetown — A 
Digression  to  Tunis — Public  Buildings — The  PostOffice — The  Patent  Office 
The  Treasury — The  President's  Mansion — The  "White  House" — Visit  to 
General  Taylor,  the  late  President—His  Daughter,  Mrs.  Bliss — Appear- 
ance of  General  .Taylor — His  Affability — His  Conversation — Invitation  to 
*•*»»  Authoress — Heat  of  the  Weather  in  November... 89 


CONTENTS.  vii 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Discomforts  of  Traveling  over  die  Alleghanies — Mr.  Clay — Pittsburg  as  sable 
as  Sheffield — Its  Population — Visit  to  a  Glass  Factory  and  Iron  Foundry — A 
dingy  Vehicle — Factories  and  Foundries  in  Pittsburg — The  Ohio — The  new 
Suspension  Bridge  at  Wheeling — Accidents  to  Steamers  caused  by  it — 
Courtesy  of  the  Captains  and  Clerks  of  Steamers — Cincinnati — German 
and  Irish  Immigrants  compared — Verses  addressed  to  Emigrants 88 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Description  of  Louisville — Its  Trade  and  Natural  Productions — Its  Soil  and 
Rivers — The  Kentucky  Caves — A  Visit  to  one— Its  Avenues,  Domes,  Cat- 
aracts, Pits,  and  Rivers — A  Sea  in  it — The  vociferous  Bats — Echoes  of  the 
Cave — The  Cave  once  the  Residence  of  consumptive  Patients — The  eye- 
less Fish — The  narrow  Path  and  the  fat  Englishman — Vast  Extent  of  the 
Cave — Verses  suggested  by  it..- 93 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

A  Conversation  in  a  Coach — A  loquacious  Gentleman — The  other  Passenger — 
His  Appearance — An  American  Argument  touching  the  Potency  of  Money 
to  make  a  Gentleman — An  Exhibition  of  genuine  Feeling — A  Kentuckian's 
Notion  of  England — The  slight  Value  set  on  human  Life  in  America — The 
Duel — Pigs  paramount  in  Louisville — Herds  of  Swine  on  the  Alleghanies 
— The  Hotel-Keeper  and  the  Kentucky  Cave — Danger  attending  a  Visit 
to  the  Caves 1 99 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  Steamer  from  Louisville — The  Passengers — The  Lady  in  the  Turban, 
and  her  refractory  Charges — A  Family  of  another  Description — The  Lili- 
putian  Listen  and  his  model  Grandmamma — The  Sonnambnla  of  a  Stew- 
ardess— St.  Louis — Ravages  of  the  Cholera  in  that  City — Rapid  Growth  of 
St.  Louis — Vast  Number  of  German  Immigrants — Progress  of  American 
Civilization — Prairie  Hunting — Frequency  of  Steamboat  Accidents  on  the 
Mississippi 107 

CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Mississippi — Its  Impression  upon  the  Author — Its  Banks — The  immense 
Forests  seen  from  it — Its  varied  Scenery — The  Mississippi  by  Night — Hosts 
of  floating  Trees — Steamer  "  snasreed" — Visit  to  the  late  President's  Cotton 
Plantation — His  Slaves — Interestin<;  Negro  Children — Shanty  of  Mr.  Tay- 
lor, the  President's  Son — An  aged  Slave — His  extreme  Politeness — The 
black  Valet  of  Mr.  Taylor — The  immediate  Slave  Abolition  Question — In- 
stances of  Ill-treatment  of  Slaves — Persecution  of  Musquitoes 113 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

The  St.  Charles  Hotel  at  New  Orleans — The  Swedish  Waiter  and  Jenny 
Lind — Oppressive  Heat  in  December  in  New  Orleans — Vast  Quantities 
of  Cotton — The  probable  future  Aspect  of  the  Banks  of  the  Mississippi — 
Commerce  of  New  Orleans — The  City — Its  Port — Its  Inhabitants — Its 
Churches — The  City  subject  to  Inundations — Places  of  Sepulture  above 
Ground — Wreck  of  the  Louisiana  Steamer — Wonderful  Capabilities  of  the 
Valley  of  the  Mississippi — The  Americans  not  extravagant  when  they  de- 
scribe the  Resources  of  their  Country — Alligators — The  Red  River — The 
artificial  Embankments  of  the  Mississippi  at  New  Orleans — Their  In- 
security   — 1C2 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Mobile — Lake  Poncnartrain — An  Indian  Encampment — The  Indians  and 
their  Squaws — Chnmpa  Girls — Some  Account  of  Mobile — Its  Harbor — Fes- 
tival of  the  New  Year — Rival  musical  Processions — The  Magnolia  Grove 
— Manner  of  Life  of  the  Indians — Manifold  Miseries  attending  waiting  for 
Steamers — Madame  L V Mr.  Clay — Preparing  to  start  for  Mex- 
ico— Madame  L L V -s  old  black  Slave — Her  Remembrance 

of  Washington— Verges  on  Madams  L V '«  deceased  Children  ...  130 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Boston  as  a  Commercial  City. — Its  Wharves — Its  Shipping — Its  Trade — The 
India  Wharf— American  Boys — The  Present  and  Future  of  America— The 
fashionable  Quarter  of  Boston — American  Ladies  and  Gentlemen— Young 
America — Boston  the  Metropolis  of  Railroads — Gallantry  and  Patience  of 
American  Travelers — Fresh  Pond — Wenham  Lake  Ice — Mr.  Prescott's 
Town  House — Libraries,  and  Literary  and  Philosophical  Institutions  in  Bos- 
ton— Its  Periodical  Literature — Its  Charities — Its  Patronage  of  the  Arts— ' 
Power's  Sculptures — Frequency  of  Fires  in  American  Cities — General 
Appearance  of  Boston - - 137 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Bustle  in  the  Streets  of  New  York — Trinity  Church — Wall-street — The 
Park — The  Shops  in  Broadway — Traffic  in  Broadway — Irish  and  German 
Emigrants — Wharves  of  New  York — Its  Shipping — The  Astor  House  Ho- 
tel—The  Exchange— The  Custom  House— Theatres— The  City  Hall— The 
Chair  of  Washington — Churches — Benevolent,  Literary,  and  Scientific  In- 
stitutions— Squares,  Mansions — Foreigners  in  New  York — Sympathy  be- 
tween America  and  Russia — Those  two  Nations — Anecdote  of  an  Ameri- 
can in  Russia — Pearl-street — Military  Companies  in  New  York — The 
Militia — The  Firemen — The  Electric  Telegraph  in  America — The  Battery 
—The  Halls  of  Justice— The  Bowery 146 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Vera  Cruz  by  Moonlight — The  "Walker"  Steamer — The  new  Minister  to 
Mexico — Lord  Mark  Kerr's  exquisite  Drawings — Scenes  on  Deck — Love 
of  Music  of  the  Americans — The  Aspect  of  Vera  Cruz — Effects  of  a  Norther 
— Sopilotes — Their  Functions  and  Appearance — The  Castle  of  St.  Juan 
d'Ulloa — The  Harbor  of  Vera  Cruz — Its  Commerce — Its  Foundation — The 
German  Housekeeper — Her  polyglot  Stories — The  Alameda — Vast  Num- 
ber of  laden  Mules — Departures  for  Mexico — Vera  Cruzian  Watchmen — 
Dresses  of  the  Vera  Cruzians 159 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

The  Mexicans — Climate  of  Mexico — Luxuriance  of  its  Vegetation — Beauty 
of  its  Flowers  and  Birds — Jalapa — The  Journey  from  Vera  Cruz — The 
State  of  the  Roads — The  Diligence — A  formidable-looking  Passenger — 
Cornish  Miners  in  Mexico — The  Inn  at  Perote — English  Hardware  in 
Mexico — Hacienda  of  General  Santa  Anna — General  Scott  and  the  Pas- 
sage of  the  Chapparal — Puente  del  Rey — The  Mountains  of  Mexico — Ori- 
zaba— Its  magnificent  Height — Cathedral  of  Puebla — Mexican  Spurs — Rio 
Frio — Popocatepetl — National  Character  of  the  Mexicans 169 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Mexico  when  first  conquered — Cortez  and  Montezvuna — The  musical  Gentle- 
man— Mexican  Plants  and  Flowers — The  Cathedral  in  the  City  of  Mexico 
— Arrival  of  the  Diligence  at  the  Hotel — The  Passengers — M.  de  Zurutuza 
— Appointments  of  the  Hotel — Mexican  Pronunciamientos — The  Mexican 
Lady  and  her  Flowers — The  Form  of  Government  best  suited  for  Mexico — 
The  Streets  of  Mexico — The  Passengers  and  Vehicles — The  Shops — Re- 
bosas  and  Serapes — Picturesque  Costume  of  the  Mexicans 182 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

The  Cathedral  of  Mexico — The  Grand  Plaza — The  Palace — The  Importunity 
of  Beggars — Site  of  the  Cathedral  once  occupied  by  the  grand  Aztec  Tem- 
ple— Description  of  the  Temple  by  old  Spanish  Writers — The  Interior  of 
the  Cathedral — The  Calendar  Stone  of  the  Aztecs — The  Stone  of  Sacrifices 
— The  Aztec  Priests  and  their  Victims — The  Idol  worshiped — The  National 
Museum — Colossal  Statue  of  Charles  IV.  of  Spain — Armor  of  Cortez  and 
Pedro  de  Alvarado — "El  Salto  de  Alvarado" — Ancient  Map  of  Mexico — 
Beauty  of  the  City — The  Shops  and  their  Multiplicity  of  Articles — Mexican 
Horse- furniture — Mexican  Houses — The  Plaza  del  Toros...  ,.  190 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Mexico — The  Viga — The  Chinampas — Floating  Gardens,  Fields  and  Or- 
chards of  the  Aztecs— Abundance  of  Flowers  in  Mexico — And  of  Fruits — 
The  Fruit  Stalls — The  Meat  and  Poultry — Tortoises,  Salamanders  and 
Frogs — The  Population  of  the  City  of  Mexico — Its  numberless  Vehicles — Its 
Environs  on  Fete  Days — Defective  police  Arrangements — Frequent  Rob- 
beries in  Consequence — Mexican  Chocolate — Victoriana,  the  Waiting-maid  80 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

General  Herrera,  the  President  of  Mexico,  and  the  American  Minister — Cha- 
pultepec  assaulted  and  taken  by  General  Scott — .Enormous  Cypresses  in 
the  Garden  of  Montezuma — Dona  Mariana,  the  Aztec  Wife  of  Cortez — 
View  from  the  Summit  of  Chapnltepec  Castle — Impressions  caused  by  it—- 
The Mountains  Tacubaya  and  Toluca — Tanks  and  Baths  of  Montezuma— 
The  Opera  House  at  Mexico — The  fat  comic  Actress  and  the  brilliantly 
dressed  one — Beauty  of  Mexican  Ladies — Madame  Bishop — Payments  in 
Kind  for  her  Singine — Beautiful  Appearance  of  the  Stars  in  Mexico — View 
of  dusty  Victims  alighting  from  the  Diligence — The  Brother  of  M.  Arago 
the  Astronomer — The  Volcanoes  Popocatepetl  and  Iztacchihuatl — Patio  of 
M.  Arago 207 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Intention  to  cross  the  Isthmus  of  Panama — The  Carnival  at  Mexico — Magnif- 
icence of  the  Cathedral  during  that  Festival — Throngs  of  picturesque  Peo- 
ple in  the  Streets — The  Masks — A  grotesque  Equestrian— Carnival  Quiz 
on  English  and  French  Horsewomen — The  Mexican  Riding-dress — Mexi- 
can Eyes — High  Pacing  of  Mexican  Horses — Mr.  Parrott  instrumental  in 
securing  California  to  the  Americans. 219 

CHAPTER  XXXH. 

Departure  for  Vera  Crnz — Threatened  Accident  to  the  Diligence — Last  Look 
at  Mexico  and  its  early  Stirrers — The  Little  Penon — A  magnificent  View — 
Passengers  by  the  Diligence — Splendid  Sombreros — The  Escort  of  Lan- 
cers— Mexican  Robbers — Of  what  Class  composed — Some  of  their  Exploits 
— Escorts  alleged  to  be  sometimes  Robbers — Arrival  at  Rio  Frio — Mr.  and 

Mrs.  G The  Plain  of  Puebla— Malinche— The  Pyramid  of  Cholula— 

Its  early  History — its  Height  and  Appearance — Chamber  discovered  in  the 
Pyramid — What  it  contained — Arrival  at  Pnebla 224 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Departure  from  Puebla — Acajete — El  Piual — Alarm  of  Ladrones — Discom- 
forts of  rough  Roads  exemplified — Pulque — Its  Taste — The  Plant  from 
which  it  is  extracted — Mode  of  extracting  it — Monde  de  Pizano — Arrival 
at  Perote— Coldness  of  that  Place  in  Winter 234 

CHAPTER  XXXFV. 

Departure  from  Perote — Magnificent  View  from  the  Heights — Impressions 
caused  by  them — The  Beauty  of  the  Approach  to  Xalapa  described — The 
Mirage — Appearance  of  inverted  Houses — Hotel  de  Diligencias — Visit  to 
a  Church — Negotiation  with  the  Mozo  touching  the  Sarape  and  the  Ameri- 
can Blanket — Numbers  of  Friars  and  Nuns  from  Spain — Arrival  at  Vert" 
Cruz — A  curious  Fact  iti  Relation  to  Dr.  Gutzlaff,  the  Missionary  to  China 
— Arrival  of  the  Steamer  for  the  Havana 240 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Arrival  at  Havana — Passengers  on  Board  the  Thames — Affecting  Story  of 
an  American  Merchant's  unforeseen  Calanlity — An  American  Gnnlin  Gib- 
bons— The  enterprising  political  Organ-grinder — First  Glimpse  of  Havana 
— The  Harbor — The  Morro  Castle  and  the  Puntal — The  Cabanas — The  City 
of  Havana — Volantes — The  Paseo — Ladies  of  Havana — Their  Dress — The 
Gentlemen — Usages  of  Gallantry  at  Havana — The  Military — Reviews  and 
Music— Anxiety  of  Spain  to  retain  Cuba — Cathedral  of  Havana — The  Ashes 
of  Columbus — His  Bust — How  his  Ashes  have  been  removed  from  Place  to 
Place — Worshipers  in  the  Cathedral — The  Bishop's  Garden — Rare  and 


CONTENTS. 


beautiful  Trees  and  Flowers — Hurricanes  at  Havana — Volantes  in  uni- 
versal Use — Where  bestowed  sometimes — Havana  Houses — How  fur- 
nished— Social  Customs  in  Havana — Fruits 247 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

Performance  of  a  Military  Band  in  the  Grand  Square— The  diversified  Com- 
pany— Description  of  Havana  Nights — The  Opera  House — The  Singers — 
Exhortation  to  Spanish  Ladies  to  preserve  their  National  Dress — An  Exe- 
cution— Material  Prosperity  of  Havana— "Jesus  del  Monte" — Dinner  with 
the  Captain-General — The  Company — Escort  of  the  Conde — Preparations 

for  the  Isthmus  Journey — A  Tertulia — Miss  M 's  exquisite  Playing  and 

Singing — The  Environs  of  Havana — The  Paseo  of  Ysabel  Segunda — Envi- 
rons of  Havana  in  the  Evening — "  Guagiros" — Description  of  their  Houses 
— Customs  and  Dress  of  the  "Guagiros" — Chinese  Laborers  in  Havana — 
Anecdote  of  Chinese  Thieves — Preparing  to  depart  for  Panama 260 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

Arrival  at  Panama — The  "  Georgia" — Kindness  and  Attention  of  Lieutenant 
Porter — Deficiency  of  Fresh  Water — An  Alarm  on  Board — Its  Cause — Bus- 
tle of  preparation  to  land  at  Chagres — The  stout  Lady  and  her  Trunk — 
Arrival  at  Chagres — Polished  Manners  of  American  Gentlemen — The  Bar 
of  Chagres — Difficulty  of  landing  and  of  procuring  Lodgings — Apartments 

at  Senor 's — General  aspect  of  Chagres — The  Castle  of  San  Lorenzo 

— Its  present  Condition — Population  of  Chagres — Adventurers  to  California 
Start  for  Gorgona 271 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

The  River  Chagres — The  Boat — The  Rowers — Their  peculiar  and  vociferous 
Songs — Gatun  and  MiHaflores — Exquisite  Beauty  of  the  Scenery  on  the 
Banks  of  the  Chagres — Innumerable  Flowers  and  radiant  Birds — Strange 
and  Prodigal  Intertexture  of  Parasitical  Plants — Enormous  and  brilliant 
Butterflies — Las  dos  Hermanas — Accommodations  at  that  place — The 
Hostess  and  her  adopted  Daughter — Americans  bound  for  California — 
Scenery  during  the  Progress  of  the  Voyage — San  Pablo — An  Accident — The 
Lady  with  her  immense  Coiffure — Monte  Carabali — Arrival  at  Gorgona..  281 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

Gorgona — Immense  Number  of  Americans  at  that  place — The  Native  Hotel 
— The  Host  and  his  Daughters — A  Fiesta — The  Women's  Dresses — The 
truant  Clerk  in  his  Splendor — His  Glory  checked — Hunting  for  Mules — A 
projected  Railroad  through  Gorgona — "  Sammy,"  the  Servant  at  the  Hotel 
— Some  account  of  his  Duties,  and  how  they  were  performed — His  Appear- 
ance— Spread  of  Fever  in  Gorgona — Mode  of  lading  Mules — Departure  of 
Friends  for  Panama — Pedestrian  Travelers  to  California — Stanzas  sug- 
gested by  seeing  them 293 

CHAPTER  XL. 

Arrival  at  Panama — Hospitality  of  Mr. His  House — Coral  and  Pearl 

of  the  Pacific — The  "Espiritu  Santo'' — Departure  from  Gorgona  described 
— A  refractory  Mule — The  Cerro  Grande — Alleged  View  from  its  Summit 
— A  magnificent  Forest  described — A  Foreston  Fire — The  American's  Ad- 
miration of  the  Trees — The  Flowers  in  the  Forest— Difficulty  of  proceed- 
ing on  the  bad  Roads — Enormous  Loads  carried  by  the  Natives  of  the  - 
Isthmus — Attire  of  Travelers  to  California — Female  Inhabitants  of  the 
Isthmus — Their  dislike  of  Americans — A  nival  at  the  Half-way  House — 

Mrs.  H and    her  Child — The.  American  Character  exemplified — The 

Journey  resumed — Escapade  of  a  Mule — A  Halt — The  Indian  Hut — Its 
Inmates — Noises  in  the  Forest 304 

CHAPTER  XLI. 

The  Journey  to  Panama  resumed — Beauty  of  the  Moon-light — The  paved 
Causeway — First  view  of  the  Pacific — The  American's  opinion  of  the  old 
Spaniards — And  of  the  present  Natives  of  the  Isthmus — Arrival  at  Panama 
—The  City— The  Grand  Plaza— The  Bay— The  Cathedral— Jesuit  Church 


CONTENTS. 


and  College — Ruinous  Condition  of  Panama — Americans  in  Panama  bound 
for  California — The  Climate  of  Panama — Breezes  from  the  Pacific — Gen- 
eral M Insects  and  Reptiles  in  Panama — The  Fire-beetle — The 

Family  of  Madame  H A  social  Custom  in  Panama — Half-starved 

Horses  and  Mules — Panama  becoming  Americanized — The  Carriages  in 
that  City 318 

CHAPTER  XL1I. 

Monarchy  and  Democracy — England's  Treatment  of  her  Colonies — The  Great- 
ness of  America — Her  Tendency  to  Propagandism — Anecdote  of  a  Paroquet 
— The  Pearl  Fishery  at  Panama — The  Captain  and  his  Crew — General  Ro- 
sas— Beautifully  scented  Woods  in  Panama — The  Rose  Fever — Theatri- 
cals in  Panama — Hostility  between  Americans  and  the  Natives  of  Panama 
— Fair  Children  in  Panama — The  would-be  Englishwoman .  327 

CHAPTER  XLJII. 

Intention  to  go  to  Lima — Dinner  to  Ex-cannibals — Theatricals  in  Panama — 
Taboga — The  French  Tailoress — The  "  Happy  Ship" — Roman  Catholic 
Procession  on  Good  Friday — A  mischievous  Trick — California  thoroughly 
Americanized — Califoruian  Adventurers  and  the  Steamboat  Agent — The 
dead  Negro — British  Subjects  buried  in  Panama — Tone  of  American  Papers 
in  Panama — Spirit  of  Enterprise  of  the  Americans — Old  Panama — Reptiles 
and  Insects  in  Panama — Morgan  and  bis  Buccaneers — The  Pirates  and  the 
Spanish  Fleet — Wealth  said  to  have  been  buried  by  the  Buccaneers — 
American  Love  of  intellectual  Progress .  339 

CHAPTER  XLIV. 

The  probable  future  of  Panama — South  American  Railroads  projected — Gold- 
seekers  in  Panama — Large  Importation  of  Fruit-trees  into  California — 
American  Improvements  in  Panama— Alleged  ill-treatment  of  Emigrants 
by  Ship-owners — The  Green  Mountain  Yankee — The  Indians  and  the 
damp  Gunpowder — The  Government  of  New  Granada — Its  recent  Policy  354 

CHAPTER  XLV. 

Arrival  at  Lima  announced — Embark  on  the  "Bolivia" — View  of  Panama, 
from  the  Sea — Buenaventura — The  River  and  City  of  Guayaquil — Horses' 
Dread  of  Alligators — Native  Boats  and  their  varied  Freight — Parrots,  Ma- 
caws, and  Paroquets — Ponchos — The  Guayaquil  Ladies — Grass  Hats — 
The  five  Productions  of  Guayaquil — Payta — Its  Population — Its  Salubrity 
— Its  Market— Scarcity  of  Water  at  Payta — Former  Wealth  of  that  Place  360 

CHAPTER  XLVI. 

Cherimoyas — Lambayeqne — The  Balsa — Its  Use — Numerous  Reptiles  and 
Insects  at  Lambayeque — Curious  Mound-tombs — Sepulchral  Curiosities 
found  in  them — Alleged  Imitation  of  them  in  Birmingham — Huanchaco — 
The  peremptory  Lady — Description  of  Call ao — Its  Destruction  a  Century 
ago — The  frozen  Apple 369 

CHAPTER  XL VII. 

Site  of  Old  Callao — The  shouting  Inquirer — Approach  to  Lima — Absence  of 
Rain  at  that  City — The  graceful  Peruvian  Costume — The  Poncho — Mala 
and  Female  Equestrians — Arrival  at  Lima — The  Aspect  of  the  City — 
Miradors — Multitude  of  Asses  in  Lima — London  and  Lima — Costumes  of 
Lima  Ladies — The  Bridge  over  the  Rimac — Venders  of  Cigars — the  Cor- 
dilleras   .". 375 

CHAPTER  XLVHI. 

The  Great  Plaza— The  Cathedral  of  Lima— The  Streets  of  that  City— The          , 
Silversmiths — The  Bells  of  Lima — Charitable  Institutions — Churches  and 
Convents«r-Mandsome  Houses — Palaces  of  the  Past — Grotesque  Paintings 
— Well-appointed  Carriages — The  Limanian  Beircar- woman — Particular- 
ities of  Lima  Ladies'  Dress — Their  Shoes— M.  and  Madame  B Their 

Daughter 384 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 

Signal  Instance  of  the  Heroism  of  a  Lady — The  Procession  of  the  Oration — 
A  Lottery  in  the  Grand  Plaza — How  conducted — Distinguished  Visitors — 
Chorillos — The  Sale  of  "  Almas,"  or  Souls — The  Public  Museum — Portraits 
of  the  Spanish  Viceroys — Mummies  of  Peruvian  Incas — Beautiful  stuffed 
Birds — Manco  Capac — Who  were  the  first  Incas? — The  Children  of  the 
Sun — Progress  in  Civilization  of  Old  Peru 389 

CHAPTER  L. 

Manco  Capac  and  his  Wife — Their  Instruction *of  the  Peruvians — Old  Peru 
vian  Roads — Bull-lights  at  Lima — Mode  of  conducting  them — Spectators  at 
them — Limanian  Ladies — Beautiful  Specimens  of  Peruvian  Art  and  Inge- 
nuity— Silver  ornamented  Fruits — Lima  Burial  Places — The  Amancaes — - 
The  Fiesta  of  St.  John— The  Valley  of  Amancaes— The  Flower  of  that 
name — The  Streets  of  Lima  after  the  Fiesta — Concerts  given  by  a  French 
Lady — Fruits  of  Lima — The  Grenadilla — "Italia" — -Custom  of  washing 
Plates  by  the  lower  Orders  in  Lima — The  Gorgonian  Servant — "Huacos" 
and  other  Curiosities  found  in  Peruvian  Sepulchres — The  "  Senorita" — A 
Garden  in  the  Suburbs — Its  numerous  Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Flowers — Ener- 
vating Climate  of  Lima - 398 

CHAPTER  LI. 

About  to  leave  Lima — The  Cathedral — Fragile  but  enduring  Buildings  in 
Lima — The  Reason  why  they  are  the  latter — The  Tower  of  San  Domingo — 
The  Chorister  of  the  Cathedral — The  Shrine  of  Santa  Rosa — The  Inqui- 
sition at  Lima — The  Cemetery — Cemeteries  in  the  United  States — Lima 
Mode  of  Sepulture — Remains  of  the  Temple  of  the  Sun — Peruvian  Politics 
— Disheartening  News  from  California — Verses  on  Happiness — Earth- 
quakes at  Lima — The  Shoes  of  the  L adies 412 

CHAPTER  LII. 

The  Voyage  from  Peru  to  Panama — Farewell  to  Lima — Guanacos — The  Rio 
Lady  in  the  Omnibus — The  Railroad  begun — Arrival  at  Callao — Rodil's 

Defense  of  Callao  described — Polite  Attention  of  Captain  W The 

Harbor  of  Callao — The  Beauty  of  the  Pacific — Handsome  Appointments 
of  the  Steamer — The  Musical  Stewards — Mr.  Bcebe,  the  Hatter,  for  Cali- 
fornia— Arrival  at  Payta — The  British  Consul  there — Description  of  Payta 
— Treatment  of  Peru  by  the  Spanish  Conquerors— Insurrection  of  Tupac 
Amaru — The  Indians  beyond  Peru 421 

CHAPTER  LIII. 

Peru — Her  Internal  Communication — Her  Forts  and  Coast — Peruvian  Agri- 
culture— Manufactures  of  Inland  Peru — Commerce  of  Peru — HerCommodi 
ties — Her  Trade — Her  Government — Her  Religion — Peruvian  Fertility — 
Mineral  Resources — Animals — Cattle — The  Face  of  the  Country — The 
Andes — Rivers  and  Lakes  of  Peru — Her  Coasts ._ 431 

CHAPTER  LIV. 

Departure  from  Pern — On  board  the  "  New  World"— The  nautical  Ladies — 
Chimborazo  and  Cotopaxi — The  Volcanoes  of  the  Cordillera — Crater  of 
Cotopaxi — A  narrow  Escape — Arrival  at  Panama — An  Amateur  Concert — 
Departure  from  Panama — Scene  occasioned  by  a  dead  Mule — Badness  of 
the  Roads — Arrival  at  Cruccs 438 

CHAPTER  LV. 

The  Hotel  at  Graces — A  felonious  Cat — The  New  Granadian  Gentlemen — 
Progress  toward  Chagres — Lightning,  Thunder,  and  Rain — Arrival  at 
Chagres — The  dead  American — Quarrels  between  Americans  and  the 
Natives  of  Panama — Humboldt's  Estimate  of  the  Indians — Incredulity  of 
Californian  Emigrants — Melancholy  case  of  two  returned  Californians — A 
beautiful  Sunset — Arrival  at  Jamaica — Kingston — Descent  .of  General 
Lopez  on  Cuba — Strange  Effect  of  it — Reverses  of  Jamaica  Planters — The 
Glories  of  Nature — Creation's  Praise,  a  Poem ..  445 


NARRATIVE 


OP 


TRAVELS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES, 


CHAPTER  I. 

Arrival  at  New  York — First  View  of  Broadway — Summer  Costume  of  the 
Ladies — Description  of  New  York — Its  Suburbs  and  Islands — Its  Forti- 
fications— Prepare  to  start  for  Niagara. 

THE  Bay  of  New  York  looked  beautiful  on  the  morning  of  our 
arrival  (May  16th,  1849).  It*was  a  bright,  warm,  splendid 
morning ;  the  sun  shone  gloriously,  and  the  sky  reminded  me  of 
Italy.  We  took  leave  of  Captain  Judkins,  the  obliging  and  ex- 
cellent captain  of  "  The  Canada  ;''  but  before  we  went  on  shore, 
we  witnessed  the  disembarkation  of  the  mails — it  is  quite  an 
interesting  spectacle.  There  were  about  thirty  thousand  letters — 
w,hite-winged  messengers  of  peace  ! — one  could  not  but  rejoice  at 
the  sight.  Those  numerous  letters  of  business,  of  friendship,  of 
mutual  interest,  seemed  so  many  links  uniting  the  two  countries  in 
a  concord  not  to  be  easily,  if  ever,  broken. 

One  of  the  first  things  that  struck  us  on  arriving  in  the  city 
of  New  York — the  Empress  City  of  the  West — was,  of  course, 
Broadway.  It  is  a  noble  street,  and  has  a  thoroughly  bustling, 
lively,  and  somewhat  democratic  air.  New  York  is  certainly 
handsome,  and  yet  there  is  something  about  it  that  gives  one  the 
idea  of  a  half-finished  <-ily,  and  this  even  in  Broadway  itself;  for 
the  street  was  literally  littered  with  all  imaginable  rubbish  which, 
we  should  imagine  from  appearances,  is  usually  shot  in  that 
celebrated  thoroughfare  ;  indeed  it  seems  a  sort  of  preserve  for  this 
species  of  game.  Piles  of  timber,  mounds  of  bricks,  mountains  of 
packing-casas,  pyramids  of  stones,  and  stacks  of  goods,  were  ob- 
servable on  all  sides.  The  New  Yorkers  themselves  grumble 
much  at  the  inconvenience,  and  their  newspapers  often  contain 


14  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

pathetic  remonstrances  with  the  authorities,  for  allowing  such 
obstructions  to  crowd  the  thoroughfare. 

Besides  this,  it  appears  from  their  published  complaints,  that 
their  streets  are  very  much  too  often  torn  up  for  sewage  pur- 
poses, &c.,  and,  in  short,  that  this  tiresome  performance  is  fre- 
quently unnecessarily  encored,  without  their  consent,  and  certainly 
to  their  manifest  inconvenience.  They  ask  if  their  time  is  to  be 
taken  up  (as  their  streets  are)  continually,  by  having  to  stop  every 
two  or  three  steps,  and  sit  down  on  the  next  door-step  to  take  the 
paving-stones  out  of  their  boots  1  Qart-loads  of  these  same  paving- 
stones,  adding  to  the  confusion,  were  to  be  seen  on  all  sides,  and 
sometimes  felt,  as  our  handsome,  heavy,  crimson-velvet-lined,  hired 
vehicle  (rather  a  warm-looking  lining  for  New  York,  near  the 
beginning  of  June),  swayed  from  side  to  side,  arid  rolled  and  rattled 
ponderously  along. 

We  went  to  the  Astor  House,  or  rather  Astor  Town,  for  its 
size  is  prodigious  :  there  we  had  comfortable  bedrooms,  and  a  nice 
sitting-room ;  and  we  dined  in  private  ; — and  I  was  glad  to  find 
no  objection  was  made  to  this  arrangement.  There  is  a  perfect 
colony  of  Irish  at  the  Astor  House ;  but  till  the  accent  betrayed 
them,  I  took  the  waiters,  at  first,  for  French  or  German,  so 
carefully  had  they  followed  the  example  of  their  American  fellow- 
citizens  (of  whom,  be  it  remembered,  I  had  as  yet  beheld  next  to 
nothing),  and  were  so  be-bearded,  imperialed,  and,  I  believe,  in 
many  instances,  mustachioed  too,  that  Paddy  seemed  quite  trans- 
mogrified into  a  "  whiskered  Pandour  or  a  fierce  hussar,"  which 
seemed  unnecessary  for  the  peaceful  occupation  of  laying  knives — 
not  without  forks — and  handing  cream-ices. 

What  a  glorious  sunny  day  it  was  !  We  had  a  glimpse  of  busy 
Broadway  from  our  windows.  We  soon  saw  some  evidence  of  the 
warmth  of  a  New  York  summer,  in  the  profusion  of  light  cool 
bonnets  furnished  with  broad  and  deeply-hanging  curtains,  shading 
and  covering  the  throat  and  part  of  the  shoulders — a  very  sensible 
costume  for  hot  weather.  The  fashion,  or  the  custom,  just  now 
seems  to  be  for  all  the  ladies  to  wear  large  white  shawls.  I 
never  beheld  such  a  number  of  white  shawls  mustered  before,  I 
think  :  the  female  part  of  the  population  seem  all  vouee  au  blanc. 
It  had  rather  too  table-clothy  an  appearance,  and  from  its  fre- 
quency, the  snowy  shawl  became  quite  tiresome ;  besides,  they 
made  one  think  of  "  weird  white  women,"  sheeted  spectres,  and 
Abd-el-Kader's  scouring  Arabs,  in  their  "  burnooses."  This  is,  1 
dare  say,  however,  only  a  temporary  fancy  ;  and  probably,  when  I 


• '  SITUATION  OF  NEW  YORK.  15 

return  to  New  York,  they  (the  shawls,  not  the  wearers  thereof) 
will  all  have  been  swept  away,  like  so  many  light  fleecy  clouds,  to 
the  four  winds  of  heaven. 

I  will  say  but  little  of  New  York  itself  now,  as  this  is  only  a 
flying  visit,  and  I  shall  return,  ere  long — merely  observing,  en 
passant,  that  every  thing  around  me  betokens  energy,  industry, 
and  prosperity,  and  also  the  impetuous  go-aheadiness,  which  will 
hardly  allow  time  for  completing  all  that  is  begun,  or  for  contriv- 
ing that  order  and  comfort  which  should  keep  pace  with  improve- 
ment and  innovation. 

New  York  is  situated  on  Manhattan  Island,  at  the  confluence 
of  the  bright  and  beautiful  Hudson,  with  the  East  River  (or  Strait 
of  Long  Island).  It  is  the  centre  of  an  imposing  panorama,  arid 
is  screened  from  the  tumultuous  ocean  by  an  assemblage  of  inter- 
vening, protecting  islands.  Its  harbor  is  safe,  easy  of  access,  very 
spacious,  and  is  said  to  be  capable  of  accommodating  the  combined 
navies  of  the  world.  This  noble  harbor  occupies  a  sweeping 
circuit  of  twenty-five  miles  :  on  every  side  it  is  gracefully  bounded 
by  ever-varying  scenery,  country  seats,  and  scattered  hamlets, 
while  the  above-mentioned  lovely  islands  shine  like  precious  jewels 
on  its  radiant  bosom. 

The  busy  metropolis  of  the  United  States  has  almost  constant 
communication,  by  steam  and  sailing-packets,  with  all  the  sea- 
ports of  America,  Asia,  Africa,  Europe,  the  East  and  West  Indies, 
and  the  islands  of  the  Pacific.  Its  progress  in  commerce,  popula- 
tion, and  wealth  is  indeed  astonishinsr.  The  population  in  1800 
was  60,489;  in  1820,  123,706;  in  f840,  312.710  ;  and  in  1849, 
400,000. 

Manhattan  Island  is  thirteen  and  a  half  miles  long  from  north 
to  south,  ranging  from  half  a  mile  to  somewhat  more  than  two 
miles  in  width — the  greatest  width  being  at  Eighty-eighth-street, 
and  it  contains  about  twenty-two  square  miles.  Incessant  com- 
munication is  kept  up  between  the  city  and  its  picturesque,  pros- 
perous, and  rapidly  increasing  suburbs,  by  means  of  steam  ferry- 
boats, the  Harlern  Railroad,  and  omnibusses ;  the  fares  being, 
exceedingly  reasonable,  and  the  accommodations  extremely  good. 

In  approaching  New  York  from  "  The  Narrows,"  one  can 
hardly  fail  to  be  struck  by  the  beauty  of  the  bay  :  the  scenery  on 
its  shore,  as  I  have  already  mentioned,  is  very  striking.  The 
outer  harbor,  or  bay,  extends  from  the  "  Narrows"  to  Sandy 
Hook,  where  is  a  light-house  at  the  distance  of  eighteen  miles 
from  the  city.  In.  the  harbor,  adjoining  the  city,  are  Bedlow's, 


16  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA.       . 

Governor's,  and  Ellis's  islands,  all  of  them  strongly  fortified.  The 
first,  and  most  important,  includes  seventy  acres  of  ground,  and  is 
situated  three  thousand  two  hundred  feet  from  the  Battery.  Fort 
Columbus  occupies  its  centre,  and  on  the  northeast  point  is  Castle 
William,  a  round  tower  six  hundred  feet  in  circumference  and  sixty 
feet  high,  with  three  tiers  of  guns.  There  is  a  battery  likewise, 
on  the  northwest  side,  commanding  the  entrance  through  Butter- 
milk Channel,  a  strait  which  separates  it  from  Brooklyn,  Long 
Island. 

In  addition  to  these  fortifications,  New  York  harbor  is  well 
defended  by  similar  works  on  Bedlow's  and  Ellis's  Islands ;  at 
the  Narrows,  on  the  Long  Island  shore,  by  Fort  Hamilton  and 
Fort  Lafayette  (formerly  Fort  Diamond),  which  is  built  on  a 
reef  of  rocks  about  two  hundred  yards  from  the  shore ;  and  on 
Staten  Island,  opposite,  by  Fort  Tompkins  and  Fort  Hichrnond. 
Here  the  "Narrows"  is  about  two-thirds  of  a  mile  wide.  The 
entrance  from  the  Sound,  on  the  East  Hiver,  is  defended  by  Fort 
Schuyler,  on  Throg's  Neck. 

So  much  for  the  defenses  of  the  great  emporium  and  metropolis 
of  the  United  States,  and  so  much  for  itself  for  the  present — for  I 
am  off  to  the  great  Niagara.  Every  facility  for  our  journey  has 
been  afforded  us  by  the  kindness  of  the  English  Consul  and  Mrs. 
Barclay,  who  have  amiably  given  me  all  the  necessary  instruc- 
tions, directions,  &c.  It  may  easily  be  guessed  how  eagerly  I  long 
to  hear  and  see  the  waters  of  Erie,  Superior,  Huron,  and  Michigan, 
all  thundering  down  one  mighty  steep  in  their  awful  greatness  and 
power ! 


CHAPTER  II. 

Detained  at  Albany — Wreck  of  the  "Empire"  Steamer — Ame-rican  Indif- 
ference to  human  Life — The  theatrical  Riot  and  Massacre  caused  by  Mr. 
Forrest's  Jealousy  of  Macready — Sympathy  of  the  Lady  for  the  Captain 
of  the  "Empire" — High-sounding  names  of  Towns — The  Hudson- 
Hotels  at  Albany — Description  of  Albany. 

WE  came  to  the  handsome  town  of  Albany  in  a  fast  and  beau- 
tifully-decorated steamer  ;  but  we  might  almost  as  well  have  been 
on  board  a  slow  one,  as  we  find  we  can  not  go  on  till  to-morrow  to 
Buffalo.  The  steamboats  and  railroads  do  not  communicate  as 
conveniently  as  they  might  do  for  travelers,  and  I  hear  this  is  done 
expressly  to  please  the  hotel-keepers,  by  forcing  travelers  to  remain 
a  night  at  Albany.  I  was  much  disappointed  ;  and  so  full  were 
my  thoughts  of  the  great  cataract,  that  I  might  well  expect  to 
have  a  nightmare  of  Niagara  to-night,  which  would  not  be  a 
pleasant  introduction,  or  preface  of  an  introduction  to  "  the  Falls." 

The  Hudson  is  a  beauteous  river ;  but,  in  the  midst  of  its  love- 
liness, it  was  very  triste  to  come  upon  the  wreck  of  the  splendid 
"  Empire"  steamer,  which  was  lost  two  nights  before  we  started. 
I  believe  she  ran  foul  of  a  large  merchant  vessel  in  the  dark,  and 
went  down  very  shortly  afterward.  Numbers  of  lives  were  lost ; 
many  dead  bodies  had  been  picked  up,  arid  as  soon  as  they  can. 
penetrate  into  her  sleeping  cabins  they  expect  to  find  many  more. 
They  were  slowly  attempting  to  raise  the  steamer  when  we 
passed. 

Then  was  I  a  second  time  struck  by  the  American  indifference 
to  human  life,  which  1  had  before  observed  at  New  York.  The 
first  time,  it  was  on  occasion  of  the  frightful  massacre  of  citizens 
at  the  miserable  theatrical  row  occasioned  by  Mr.  Forrest's  pro- 
fessional jealousy  of  our  Macready.  It  seemed  to  excite  wonder- 
fully little  horror,  indignation,  or  regret.  One  or  two  of  the  news- 
papers kept  up  an  agitation  about  the  matter ;  but  I  do  not  think 
I  have  yet  heard  a  single  person  stigmatize  the  shooting  some 
five-and-twenty  citizens  on  such  an  occasion,  as  uncalled  for  or 
severe.  I  have  heard  some  say  it  was  perfectly  right ;  and  that 
it  was  a  pity  so  few  had  paid  the  penalty  of  their  misconduct ;  I 
heard  even  harsher  things  said  than  that,  but  forbear  to  repeat 
them,  les't  it  should  be  thought  that  I  exaggerate. 


18  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

After  all,  I  believe  most  of  those  who  suffered  were  merely  idle 
spectators,  drawn  there  by  curiosity,  or  mixed  by  chance  in  the 
crowd.  However,  that  is  very  often  the  case  in  less  severe  en- 
counters between  the  mob  and  the  preservers  of  order.  When  I 
expressed  my  horror  at  such  a  frightful  massacre  in  the  streets  of 
a  peaceful  city,  I  found  none  to  sympathize  with  such  sentiments, 
if  I  except  the  columns  of  the  Herald.  In  the  crowded  steamer, 
where  one  heard  people  talking  over  the  topics  of  the  day,  I  do 
not  remember  to  have  once  heard  the  subject  alluded  to,  though 
the  affair  had  so  recently  happened.  What  a  sensation  would 
such  a  slaughter  have  excited  in  London  ! 

When  we  passed  the  melancholy  wreck  of  the  ill-starred 
"  Empire,"  whose  fate  had  caused  the  destruction  of  so  many 
lives,  scarcely  any  one  manifested  any  interest  in  the  catastrophe. 
They  sauntered  to  that  side  of  the  vessel  in  crowds — to  look  very 
indifferently,  it  appeared  to  me,  at  the  mournful  spectacle,  as  they 
might  arid  would  have  done  at  any  other  sight.  Yet  in  addition 
to  the  great  number  of  corpses  that  had  already  been  found,  it  was 
almost  certain  that  the  still  submerged  cabins  were  so  many 
coffins ;  and  those  who  were  prosecuting  the  melancholy  search 
were  constantly,  we  were  told,  finding  fresh  bodies  in  different 
parts  of  the  vessel. 

The  only  person  who  seemed  to  me  at  all  to  feel  any  commiser- 
ation and  regret  was  a  lady  who  stood  near  me,  and  all  hers  was 
reserved  exclusively  for  the  captain  of  the  ill-fated  steamer,  who 
was  her  cousin,  and  who,  however,  was  alive  and  safe.  But,  she 
said,  some  people  blamed  him,  which  was  very  hard,  as  it  was  no 
fault  of  his;  and  he  had  been  quite  "sick,"  she  assured  me,  ever 
since,  from  the  annoyance  he  had  undergone.  Thus  the  only  one 
who  was  pitied,  it  seemed,  was  one  who  survived.  She  added, 
however,  he  was  much  shocked  at  all  that  had  happened.  It  was 
really  consolatory  to  hear,  that  there  was  such  a  thing  as  compas- 
sion, in  this  busy,  go-ahead  world  of  the  West,  for  unfortunates, 
who  had  been  so  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  launched  into  eter- 
jiity  ;  for  one  began,  almost  unconsciously,  to  lower  even  one's  own 
opinion  of  the  value  of  existence,  and  to  think  life  a  very  two- 
penny-halfpenny possession,  after  all.  I  will  not  be  sure,  however, 
but  that  what  so  shocked  the  captain,  was  the  amount  of  property 
lost ;  but  I  would  not  too  curiously  inquire  touching  the  point, 
preferring  to  think  the  sorrow  arose  from  more  humane  feelings. 

Whence  arises  this  indifference  to  human  life  in  so  flourishing 
and  prosperous  a  community  ?  One  has  always  understood  that 


HIGH-SOUNDING  NAMES  OF  TOWNS.  19 

existence  is  of  little  account  in  China,  because  the  over-crowded, 
half-starved,  hard-worked,  oppressed,  and  tyrannized-over  popula- 
tion, are  so  wretched  in  this  world,  that  any  change  must,  they 
feel,  be  a  beneficial  one  for  them  ;  but  how  different  is  the  case 
here  ?  Yet  true  it  is  that  they  are  tyrannized  over  by  a  very 
despotic  task-master,  and  a  very  exacting  and  spirit-grinding  ruler 
— Mammon  ;  and  I  can  well  imagine  that  ceaseless  toil  in  his 
service,  with  all  the  cares  and  troubles  incident  to  it,  must  make 
a  man  find  life  somewhat  of  a  wearisome  burden.  Indeed,  money- 
getting,  which  is  certainly  in  most  countries  a  great  business,  ap- 
pears here  to  me  almost  a  battle.  It  seems  as  if  they  must  win, 
do  or  die,  and  the  dead  on  the  field  are  trodden  under  loot  by  their 
eager  comrades  and  competitors,  hurrying  onward,  and  having  no 
time  to  stay,  however  they  might  be  disposed.  That  they  are  a  very 
kind-hearted  people,  I  fully  believe ;  but  to  make  money  seems  a 
sort  of  duty  in  America — the  great  object  of  living  ;  and  this  para- 
mount feeling,  to  a  certain  extent,  like  Aaron's  rod,  swallows  up 
all  the  rest. 

On  our  road  to  Niagara,  to-morrow,  we  shall  come  to  a  great 
many  very  high-sounding  places  :  Rome,  Syracuse,  Egypt,  Athens, 
Geneva,  Utica,  Amsterdam,  Batavia,  and  Palmyra,  among  them, 
I  believe.  A  noble  line  of  places  indeed,  and  worthy  of  forming 
the  road  to  the  great,  glorious  Niagara,  if  their  actual  state,  cir- 
cumstances, and  proportion  harmonized  with  their  pretensions. 
What  a  pity  the  Americans  do  not  choose  Indian  names  for  their 
rising  towns  and  cities,  which  are  generally  as  sonorous  and  noble- 
sounding  as  they  are  impressive  and  poetical  !  Setting  aside  the 
inadequacy  of  the  towns  in  general,  for  the  present  at,  least,  to  do 
justice  to  such  splendid  appellations,  and  the  sometimes  ridiculous 
juxtaposition  in  which  they  are  placed  with  regard  to  each  other 
(the  most  different,  and  distant,  and  hostile  places  in  the  Old 
World  being  forced  into  a  sort  of  happy-family  brotherhood  in  the 
New),  in  their  immediate  neighborhood  are  too  often  found  other 
flourishing  villages  and  lowus  rejoicing  in  the  very  homely  desig- 
nations of  Smithsville,  Brownsville,  Onion,  Jacksontown,  &c. 
In  one  place  I  see  they  have  an  infant  Troy  (not  the  one  almost 
close  to  this  place,  but  some  diminutive  rival) — then  Highgate, 
Canaan,  Guildhall,  Milton,  Hyde  Park,  and  Columbia,  are  all 
tolerably  near  to  one  another  ;  but  I  believe  this  is  nothing  to  the 
greater  incongruities  which  the  West  presents  in  its  more  out-of- 
the-way  districts. 

We  were  quite  charmed  with  the  extreme  beauty  of  the  Hud- 


20  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

son  and  its  banks,  especially  at  West  Point.  I  shall  not  go  into 
any  particulars  on  the  subject  till  my  return,  but  only  say  the 
river  reminded  me  of  the  Rhine  in  many  parts,  minus  the  old 
feudal  castles. 

When  we  arrived  at  Albany  we  first  tried  a  very  handsome- 
looking  hotel  in  a  high  situation,  from  whence  I  thought  we 
should  have  a  fine  view,  which  our  driver  recommended,  the  one 
I  had  been  advised  to  go  to  in  New  York  being  quite  full.  It 
was  closed,  and  this,  I  suppose,  our  cunning  driver  knew  right 
well,  but  it  gave  him  the  opportunity  of  asking  about  twice  as 
much  more  for  our  short  but  rather  steep  drive,  as  we  had  paid 
for  our  passage  the  whole  way  from  New  York ;  the  one  being 
remarkably  cheap,  the  other  rather  more  remarkably  dear.  Of 
course  we  soon  ibund  another  hotel,  for  Albany  abounds  with 
them.  Here  are  some  of  their  names — Stanwix  Hall,  the  Ameri- 
can Hotel,  the  City,  the  Clinton,.  Columbian,  Congress  Hall, 
Delavan  House,  Temperance  Hotel,  Eastern  Railroad  Hotel,  Frank- 
lin House,  Mansion  House  (where  we  are  staying),  United  States 
Hotel,  and  Washington  Hall. 

The  proprietor  and  people  here  are  extremely  civil  and  obliging, 
and  we  are  very  comfortable.  The  street  in  which  our  hotel  is  sit- 
uation is  particularly  handsome  ;  it  is  exceedingly  wide  with  excel- 
lent and  very  broad  trottoirs  (which  they  call  here  side-walks). 

This  town  was  founded  by  the  Dutch  in  1623,  and  called  Fort 
Orange,  and  in  1686  it  was  chartered  as  a  city.  Next  to  James- 
town in  Virginia,  it  was  the  earliest  European  settlement  within 
the  thirteen  original  States  ;  it  has  not,  however,  at  all  an  ancient 
air,  at  least  as  far  as  I  have  seen  of  it ;  but,  in  fact,  it  was  almost 
entirely  rebuilt  not  long  ago ;  I  believe  after  one  of  the  dreadful 
fires  so  frequent  in  the  United  States. 

When  the  English  captured  New  York  this  town  was  named 
Albany,  a  compliment  to  the  Duke  of  York  and  Albany,  after- 
ward James  the  Second.  Its  position  makes  it  necessarily  a  great 
thoroughfare  :  it  is  placed  near  the  head  of  tide  navigation,  and 
on  the  direct  line  of  communication  from  the  east  and  :the  south 
with  the  River  St.  Lawrence,  with  the  Saratoga  Springs,  and 
with  the  country  of  the  great  Lakes. 

The  city  has  acquired  great  additional  commercial  importance 

'  since  the  completion  of  the   Erie   and   Champlain  canals :  this 

has  made  it  the  entrepdt  for  a  large  proportion  of  the  products  of 

the  State  destined  to  the  New  York  markets.     A  fine  basin  is 

constructed  upon  the  river  to  accommodate  this  large  trade:  in 


DESCRIPTION  OF  ALBANY.  21 

j&^  .^;-> — 

this  all  the  boats  employed  on  the  northern  and  western  canals 
are  received.  This  consists  of  part  of  the  river  included  between 
the  shore  and  a  noble  pier,  whose  proportions  are  magnificent. 
It  is,  indeed,  a  stupendous  work,  containing  several  acres,  on 
which  large  stores  have  been  built,  where  enormous  quantities  of 
"  lumber,"  and  other  articles  of  trade  are  collected.  Drawbridges 
connect  it  with  the  city. 

The  public  buildings  here  are  said  to  be  handsome :  the  popu- 
lation is  forty-five  thousand,  or  thereabouts.  The  town  appears 
very  clean,  and  is  altogether  a  very  striking-looking,  bustling, 
thriving,  and  admirably-situated  place.  The  Capitol  looks  im- 
posing at  the  head  of  State-street,  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet 
above  the  Hudson. 


CHAPTER    III. 

Difficulty  of  conveying  the  Impression  caused  by  a  first  View  of  the  Falls 
of  Niagara — An  Attempt  to  do  so — The  Falls  described — A  Thunder- 
storm over  the  Great  Cataracts — The  Rainbow — Kindness  and  Courtesy 
of  the  Americans — Their  Spirit  of  Enterprise — Luxurious  Appointments 
of  American  Steamers — The  Dimensions  of  the  Falls — Goat  Island — 
Quantity  of  Water  precipitated  over  the  Falls — Grand  and  Navy  Islands. 

WE  arrived  at  Niagara  to-day  from  Buffalo,  and  put  up  at  the 
Clifton  House.  It  will  not  be  expected  that  I  should  tell  what 
my  first  feelings  and  impressions  were  on  beholding  this  thrice- 
glorious  cataract,  for  I  hardly  am  in  the  least  conscious  of  what 
they  were  myself.  I  only  know  this ;  it  scarcely  seemed  to  me 
at  all  like  what  any  painting  or  any  description  had  represented  it 
to  be,  except  only  in  the  shape  of  the  great  Canadian  Fall. 

When  the  train  we  were  in  stopped,  the  roar  of  the  cataract 
burst  on  our  ears  most  majestically.  It  was  a  moment  of  intense 
excitement,  and  on  we  hastened,  and  stood  very  shortly  within  a 
few  feet  of  the  verge  of  the  American  Fall,  and  looking  on  to  the 
magnificent  Horse  Shoe.  There  we  were  in  the  audience-chamber 
of  the  great  Water  King.  If  one  saw  the  sun  for  the  first  time, 
could  one  describe  it  ?  Do  not  expect  me  yet  to  say  any  thing  of 
Niagara  ;  at  least  any  thing  to  the  purpose.  The  garrulous  mood 
will  very  likely  come  on  me  presently  ;  when,  perhaps,  I  shall 
quite  tire  the  reader  with  my  rhapsodies,  so  that  he  may  have 
cause  to  wish  all  rny  powers  of  expression  were  still  frozen  up  by 


22  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

awe  and  admiration,  like  the  notes  in  the  horn,  as  related  of  Baron 
Munchauseij. 

What  a  wonderful  thing  can  water  become !  One  feels,  on 
looking  at  Niagara,  as  if  one  had  never  seen  that  element  before. 
Were  I  to  try  and  tell  what  I  felt  at  my  second  and  third  look  at 
the  Mighty  Wonder,  I  think  it  was  still  confusion  and  bewilder- 
ment, mingled  with  a  slight  disappointment  at  the  apparent  height 
of  the  cataract,  and  very  much  the  reverse  with  regard  to  the 
general  features  and  breadth  ;  and  now  I  can  most  truly  say  it  is 
far  more  magnificent  than  I  had  anticipated  it  to^be,  though  my 
expectations  were  of  the  very  highest  order. 

For  the  spray  (I  can  already  find  courage  to  speak  of  that) — it 
is  what  enchants  me  the  most  in  the  whole  stupendously  magnifi- 
cent scene.  It  is  a  very  stormy  windy  day,  carrying  the  huge 
columns  of  that  beauteous  spray  to  an  immense  height,  so  it  is 
seen  to  the  greatest  advantage.  I  think  it  sometimes  seems  really 
celestial !  it  looks  like  something  not  of  this  world.  This  hotel  is 
very  close  to  the  Falls,  and,  as  I  write,  I  have  only  to  look  up,  to 
see  them.  The  noise  is  extremely  fine,  like  the  stormy  roaring  of 
a  tempest-shaken  sea,  only  the  sound  is  more  measured,  and  con- 
veys an  idea  of  a  calm,  kingly  defiance,  altogether  inexpressibly 
grand  and  solemn. 

Besides  feeling  as  if  it  were  a  presumption  to  attempt  to  write 
about  Niagara,  thus  in  its  overpowering  presence,  as  it  were,  I 
find  it  very  difficult  to  write  at  all  now,  as  I  am  drawn  to  the 
window  and  balcony  constantly  (whence  one  sees  both  Falls  fully), 
by  the  irresistible  fascination  of  this  most  wonderful  water ;  and  the 
changes  that  take  place  almost  momentarily  are  a  source  of  great 
interest.  At  one  time  it  looks  enveloped  and  almost  hidden  in 
spray ;  an  instant  afterward,  perhaps,  it  shines  forth  fully  reveal- 
ed ;  now  it  seems  covered  with  gloom,  and  looks  black  and  frown- 
ing, and  full  of  wrath  and  terror ;  and  now  the  sun  (which  alone 
appears  worthy  to  be  its  comrade  and  compeer)  breaks  forth,  and 
makes  it  all  one  glory. 

V is  enchanted,  and  independently  of  the  intense  enjoy- 
ment Niagara  afibrds  her,  she  is  delighted  to  find  herself  once 
more  in  the  country,  where  all  looks  beautifully  green  and  fresh. 
Her  bedroom  window  opens  on  the  American  Fall.  I  went  there 
just  now,  to  have  a  view  from  that  side,  and  I  can  not  tell  how 
much  one  delights  in  the  immense  variety  and  diversified  points 
of  view  these  matchless  cataracts  present. 

Though  I   have  been  here  so  short  a  time,  I  think  I  have 


FALLS  OF  NIAGARA.  23 

already  seen  them  display  a  hundred  different  aspects.      From 

V 's  window  I  saw  a  wonderfully  beautiful  rainbow  on  the 

•water ;  one-half  of  the  American  Fall  was  in  deep  shadow,  and 
the  other  in  dazzling  sunlight.  A  small  cloud  was  just  passing 
over  the  sun  above  it. 

I  must  now — the  first  overpowering  impression  having  been 
conquered — try  to  speak  a  little  of  what  I  think  arid  feel  about 
this  glorious  Fall.  But  what  language  could  ever  do  justice  to 
its  more  than  magnificence  1  It  seems  to  belong  really  to  some 
grander  world,  of  more  gigantic  proportions  and  sublimer  features 
than  our  own. 

Before  I  came  here,  I  erroneously  supposed  that  one  should  be 
immensely  struck,  and  overpowered,  and  enchanted  at  first,  but 
that  afterward  there  would  be  a  certain  degree  of  monotony  at- 
tached to  that  unvarying  sublimity,  which  I  wrongly  believed  to 
be  the  great  characteristic  of  Niagara.  But,  how  miserably  did  I 
do  it  injustice!  Perhaps  the  most  peculiar  and  transcendent 
attribute  of  this  matchless  cataract,  is  its  almost  endless  variety. 
The  innumerable  diversities  of  its  appearance,  the  continual 
'countless  rapid  alterations  in  its  aspect;  in  short,  the  perpetually 
varying  phases  which  it  displays,  are  indeed  wondrous  and  truly 
indescribable.*  This  is  a  great  deal  owing  to  the  enormous  volumes 
of  spray  which  are  almost  incessantly  shifting  and  Changing  their 
forms  like  the  clouds  above.  Niagara,  indeed,  has  its  own  clouds, 
and  they  not  only  give  it  the  great  charrn  and  interest  of  an  ever- 
beautiful  and  exquisite  variety,  but  also  environ  it  with  a  lovely 
and  bewildering  atmosphere  of  mystery,  which  seems  the  very 
crown  of  its  manifold  perfections  and  glories. 

Niagara  has  its  changes  like  the  sea,  and  in  its  lesser  space  cir- 
cumscribed, they  seem  fully  as  comprehensive  and  multitudinous. 
I  have  dwelt  long  on  this,  because  I  do  not  remember  to  have 
seen  this  mighty  and  transcendent  feature  of  Niagara  particularly 
noticed  in  any  of  the  descriptions  I  have  ever  read  of  it,  and  it  has 
most  especially  delighted. and  astonished  me. 

We  were  so  very  fortunate  as  to  have  a  tremendous  thunder- 
storm here  on  Tuesday  night,  and  it  may  be  guessed  what  a  tre- 
mendous thunder-storm  must  be  here !  The  heavens  seemed 
literally  opening  just  over  the  great  cataracts,  and  the  intense- 
ly vivid  lightning,  brighter  than  day,  lit  up  the  giant  Falls, 
and  seemed  mixed  and  mingling  with  the  dazzling  mountains  of 
spray,  which  then  looked  more  beautiful  and  beatific  than  ever. 
It  was  a  wild  wiitdy  night,  as  if  all  the  elements  were  revelling 


24  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

together  in  a  stormy  chaotic  carnival,  of  their  own,  till  it  really 
presented  altogether  a  scene  almost  too  awfully  magnificent. 

The  deafening  roar  of  the  crashing  thunder  was  yet  louder  than 
the  roar  of  the  cataract,  and  completely  appeared  to  djjcxwn  it  while 
it  lasted;  but  the  moment  the  stormy  roll  of  the  thunder  died 
away,  it  was  grand  indeed  to  hear  again  the  imposing,  unceasing 
sound  of  Niagara — like  the  voice  of  a  giant  conqueror  uttering  a 
stunning  but  stately  cry  of  victory.  Then  soon  the  bellowing 
thunder  broke  forth  again,  fiercer  and  louder  than  before;  and  oh, 
the  lightning !  it  seemed  like  a  white-winged  sunbreak  when  it 
blazed  on  the  snowy  glare  of  the  ever- foaming  cataracts. 

I  hardly  ever  saw  before  such  dazzling  lightning;  and  those 
reverberating  peals  of  Niagara-out-voicmg  thunder  were  truly 
terrific,  and  appeared  quite  close.  Heaven  and  earth  seemed 
shouting  to  one  another  in  those  "sublime  and  stupendous  voices ; 
and  what  a  glorious  hymn  they  sang  between  them !  At  first, 
the  lightning  was  only  like  summer  flashes,  and  it  kept  glancing 
round  the  maddened  waters  as  if  playing  with  them,  and  defying 
them  in  sport ;  but,  after  a  little  while,  a  fearful  flash,  updarted 
really  like  a  sudden  sun,  behind  the  great  Horse  Shoe  Fall,  and  the 
whole  blazed  out  into  almost  unendurable  light  in  a  moment. 
The  storm  continued  during  the  whole  night. 

From  our  drawing-room  windows  we  have  a  magnificent  view 
of  the  Horse  Shoe  Fall,  and  almost  the  whole  of  the  American  one 
besides  ;  and  what  a  sublime  pomp  and  pageant  of  Nature  it  is ! 
What  a  thrilling,  soul-stirring  sight ;  and,  ever  new  and  ever 
changing,  and  eternally  suggesting  fresh  thoughts,  fresh  feelings 
and  emotions.  Just  now,  a  violent  gust  of  wind  drove  a  huge 
cloud  of  spray  quite  OH  our  side  of  the  Canadian  Falls,  and  it  was 
hovering  between  the  two  glorious  cataracts  like  a  mighty,  sus- 
pended avalanche,  till  it  dispersed.  This  transcendently  beautiful 
spray  is  generally  most  brilliantly  white,  like  sunlit  snow.  We 
saw  a  vast  resplendent  rainbow  on  the  water  itself  on  Tuesday 
afternoon,  of  colors  quite  unimaginably  bright,  and  we  had  a  mar- 
velously  glorious  sunset  last  evening.  There  were  flaming,  blood- 
red  reflections  on  the  rocks,  trees,  and  islands ;  but  the  most  deli- 
cate suffusions  only,  of  a  rich  soft  rose  color,  rested  on  the  fantastic 
forms  of  the  matchless  spray — as  if  it  softened  and  refined  every 
thing  that  came  near  it,  and  made  all  that  touched  it  as  rare  and 
exquisite  as  its. own  etherialized  self.  He  who  has  not  seen,.. can 
have  no  idea  of  the  absorbing  nature  of  the  admiration  excited  in  one's 
mind  by  this  surpassing  and  astounding  marvel  of  creation  :  I  feel 


ENTERPRISE  OF  AMERICANS.  25 

quite  enthralled  and  fascinated  by  it,  and  time  seems  to  fly  by  at 
an  electric-telegraph  pace  here,  while  1  am  watching  it. 

I  feel  so  rooted  and  riveted  to  this  spot  by  the  unutterable  en- 
chantments of  this  master-piece  of  Nature,  I  can  scarcely  believe 
that  two  days  have  passed  since  I  first  arrived.  One  becomes 
here,  indeed,  utterly  Niagarized ;  and,  the  great  cataract  goes 
sounding  through  all  one's  soul,  and  heart,  and  mind,  commin- 
gling with  all  one's  ideas  and  impressions,  and  uniting  itself  with 
all  one's  innermost  feelings  and  fancies.  The  sounds  of  the  Fall 
vary  nearly  as  much  as  their  aspect :  sometimes  very  hollow,  at 
other  times  solemn  and  full-toned,  like  an  host  of  organs  uttering 
out  their  grand  voices  together  ;  and  sometimes,  as  I  heard  it  said, 
the  other  day,  with  a  rolling  kettle-drum,  gong-like  sound,  in  ad- 
dition— as  if  it  were  a  temporary  and  accidental  accompaniment 
to  their  majestic  oceanic  roar.  1  have  come  patriotically  to  the 
British  side,  but  not  from  any  want  of  liking  for  the  mighty  neigh- 
bors of  the  Canadians. 

Great  injustice  has  been  done  to  the  Americans,  and  we  have 
been  accustomed  too  implicitly  to  believe  the  often  unfair  and  un- 
founded reports  of  prejudiced  travelers.  Instead  of  discourteous 
and  disobliging  manners  we  find  them  all  that  is  most  civil  and 
obliging.  Among  the  less  educated,  no  doubt,  occasionally,  some 
of  the  faults  so  unsparingly  attributed  to  them,  may  be  found ; 
but  they  appear  to  me,  as  far  as  I  have  had  any  opportunity  of 
judging  as  yet,  a  thoroughly  hospitable,  kind-hearted,  and  gener- 
ous-minded people. 

And,  then,  what  a  noble,  enterprising  people  they  are !  What 
miraculous  progress  and  improvement  is  visible  on  every  side  in 
the  United  States.  One  town  we  camo  through,  Bufialo,  was, 
not  many  years  ago,  I  was  told,  a  mere  Indian  village :  it  is  now 
a  mighty  city.  Albany  is  also  a  magnificent  town  ;  the  streets  are 
strikingly  broad  and  straight ; — the  trottoirs  are  about  the  width 
of  Dover  street !  The  steamers  on  the  Hudson  are  perfect  palaces, 
and  fairy  palaces  to  boot !  being  the  most  delicate  and  finished 
creations  of  art,  and  fancy  you  can  imagine ;  larger  than  the  far- 
famed  "  Great  Britain,"  and  apparently  lighter  than  the  rainbow- 
ed  coracle  of  a  nautical  sylph  :  a  floating  island  of  painting,  marble, 
gilding,  stained  glass,  velvet  hangings,  satin  draperies,  mirrors  iu 
richly-carved  frames,  and  sculptured  ornaments,  with  beautiful 
vases  of  flowers,  Chinese  lamps  of  various  indescribable  fantastic 
forms,  arabesques,  chandeliers — in  short,  you  might  fancy  yourself 
in  Haroun  Alraschid's  palace. 

B 


28  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

It  was  very  agreeable,  steaming  along  in  the  Bucentaur-beating 
vessel,  and  looking  on  the  fine  scenery  of  the  lovely  Hudson,  in  the 
most  charming,  warm,  soft,  sunny  weather.  And  now  the  po- 
tent wondrous  magnet,  the  mighty  mystery  that  mortals  call  Ni- 
agara, draws  me  to  the  windows,  and  I  must  go  and  watch  that 
world  of  wonders.  By  the  way,  what  a  fortunate  thing  it  was 
that  the  noble  old  Indian  name  was  retained  for  this.  How  dis- 
tracting it  would  have  been,  to  have  had  it  named  Smith's  Fall,  01 
Patch's  Plunge. 

It  rains  a  little  now,  and  the  vast  black  clouds  hovering  neat 
the  snowy  spray,  have  a  truly  noble  and  striking  effect ;  like  the 
shadowy  Angel,  Death,  about  to  bound  on  his  pale  courser ;  but 
every  thing  is  noble  and  beauteous  here  !  there  is  scarcely  a  cloud  in 
the  sky  that  does  not  pay  its  tribute,  and  fling  its  fresh  fairy-gift 
on  these  magical  waters.  I  have,  as  yet  seen  nothing  of  moon- 
light and  star-light  on  them. 

We  see,  constantly,  a  small  steamer,  called  "  The  Maid  of  the 
Mist,"  going  almost  close  to  the  foot  of  the  Falls.  The  River  Ni- 
agara forms  the  outlet  of  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie,  and  of  all  the 
great  Upper  Lakes,  which,  together  with  Erie  and  Ontario,  are 
estimated  to  contain  nearly  one  half  the  fresh  water  on  the  surface 
of  the  globe !  At  the  distance  of  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile 
above  the  Falls,  the  river  begins  a  rapid  descent,  making,  within 
this  distance,  a  constant  succession  of  slopes  equal  to  about  fifty- 
two  feet  on  the  American  side,  and  fifty-seven  on  the  Canadian. 
It  forms  an  impetuous  current  just  above  the  Falls,  and  turns  a 
right  angle  to  the  northeast,  and  then  its  width  becomes  suddenly 
contracted,  from  three  miles  to  three-quarters  of  a  mile.  The 
river's  depth  below  the  cataract  exceeds  three  hundred  feet. 
Goat,  or  Iris  Island  (containing  somewhere  about  seventy-five 
acres)  divides  the  gigantic  cataract  into  two  parts,  but  on  the 
western,  or  British  side,  is  the  principal  channel.  The  channel 
between  Goat  Island  and  the  eastern  shore  is  also  divided  by  a 
small  island. 

The  noble  river  falls  perpendicularly  over  the  precipice  from  a 
hundred  and  seventy  to  two  hundred  feet.  The  Horse  Shoe,  01 
Crescent  Fall  is  so  called  from  its  shape :  it  looks  to  me  like  a 
mighty  scooped-out  throne  for  some  King  of  the  oceans  of  a  hun- 
dred worlds.  In  the  eastern  channel,  between  Goat  and  Luna 
Islands,  the  stream's  breadth  is  only  about  ten  yards :  it  forms  a 
lonely,  separate  cascade,  and  assists  one  to  form  a  due  estimate  of 
the  enormous  width  of  the  awful  cataracts  thundering  near  it. 


HORSE  SHOE  FALL.  27 


Between  Luna  Island  and  the  shore,  with  a  comparatively  shal- 
low stream,  the  descent  of  the  Fall  is  said  to  be  greater  by  several 
feet  than  at  the  Horse-shoe  Fall.  An  ingeniously  constructed 
bridge  connects  Goat  Island  with  the  shore,  from  whence  you 
have  an  excellent  view  of  the  rapids ;  indeed  the  bridge  crosses 
the  American  branch  of  the  river  in  the  midst  of  them.  You 
look  on  your  right  hand,  and  there  is  the  roaring  American  Fall, 
almost  close  to  you. 

Goat  Island  is  a  gem  of  beauty,  and  its  lovely  foliage  and  bow- 
ery walks  seem  to  charm  away  a  little  of  the  overpowering  awful- 
ness  from  its  tremendous  neighbor.  It  is  said  that  if,  as  is  suppo- 
sed, the  cataract  has  backed  all  the  way  from  Queenstown,  it 
must  have  taken  about  forty  thousand  years  for  it  to  recede  to  its 
present  situation. 

The  quantity  of  water  precipitated  over  the  Falls  is  estimated 
by  Professor  Dwight  to  be  11,524,375  tons  per  hour ;  by  Darby 
at  1,672,704,000  cubic  feet  per  hour,  and  by  Pickens  at  113,510, 
000,  or  18,524,000  cubic  feet  a  minute. 

Among  the  islands  which  diversify  the  surface  of  the  Niagara 
River,  is  Grand  Island,  which  contains  18,000  acres  of  good  and 
fertile  soil,  covered  with  rich  forests.  Navy  Island  is  another,  and 
it  terminates  in  a  beautiful  point  about  a  mile  and  a  half  abovo 
the  Fall. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Port  Talbot — Canadian  Carriages — Vast  Extent  of  American  Woods — The 

Hotel  at  Port  Stanley — Lake  Erie — Mr.  A and  his  Family— Col. 

Talbot,  the  "  Last  of  the  Mohicans" — Instance  of  the  Memory  of  North 
American  Indians — Another  Story  of  the  same  Kind — A  Recurrence  to 
Niagara — A  second  Thunder-storm — American  Forests — Lake  Erie  by 
Sunset — The  Maple  and  the  Sugar  made  from  it — Coldness  of  Canadian 
Winters. 

WE  arrived  at  Port  Talbot,  Canada  West,  a  day  or  two  ago 
from  Niagara,  where  we  staid  a  fortnight.  This  is  a  delightful 
place.  We  went  back  to  Buffalo,  then  crossed  a  part  of  Lake 
Erie  (we  were  a  day  and  a  night  on  board  the  steamer  "  London"), 
and,  landing  at  Port  Stanley,  we  had  some  refreshments  at  the 
little  hotel  there,  where  we  were  well  taken  care  of,  ty  the  partic- 


TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 


ularly  attentive  and  obliging  proprietors ;  and  then  we  carne  on 
in  a  hired  carriage,  through  beautiful  woods  to  this  beautiful  spot. 

The  road,  however,  was  not  equally  beautiful,  and  we  broke  down, 
which  apparently  not  unforeseen  accident  our  driver  took  very 
unconcernedly  and  philosophically,  and  immediately  set  about  re- 
pairing the  damage.  A  carriage  breaking  down  is  of  little  mo- 
ment indeed  in  the  woods  of  Canada,  where  they  are  usually  of  a 
tough  and  rough  kind,  and  where  the  charioteer  (who,  I  believe, 
is  generally  expected  to  be  somewhat  experienced  in  this  way), 
speedily  rectifies  the  injury  by  cutting  down  the  first  likely  tree 
by  the  road-side,  and  adapting  it  to  his  purpose  by  some  "  rough 
and  ready"  kind  of  craft. 

In  this  instance  I  had  little  doubt  but  that  our  damaged  vehi- 
cle would  come  out  of  the  hands  of  our  Jehu  nearly,  if  not  quite, 
as  good  as  new ;  for  its  "  build"  was  such,  that  he  might  very 
probably  have  been  himself  the  coach-maker  originally,  as  well  as 
coach-driver  and  coach-breaker.  We  were  soon  jolting  and  pitch- 
ing along  as  merrily  as  ever,  and  arrived  without  any  bones  bro- 
ken, as  we  flattered  ourselves,  at  the  hospitable  door  of  Port  Tal- 
bot.  Its  kind  and  friendly  proprietor,  with  Colonel  and  Mrs. 

A ,  his  nephew  and  niece,  received  us  with  the  most  amiable 

cordiality,  and  we  are  quite  enchanted  with  the  place. 

The  house  is  beautifully  situated  on  a  high  bank  close  to  Lake 
Erie,  of  which  I  have  a  magnificent  view  from  my  window. 
Within  view  of  the  house  (which  has  splendid  groups  of  trees 
close  to  it),  stretch  away  mighty  woods,  which  probably  continue 
without  interruption,  except  from  the  lakes  and  the  strides  of 
American  civilization  in  Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  to  the  very 
shores  of  the  Pacific.  I  could  not  have  "  realized"  such  enormous 
worlds  of  woods  as  I  have  even  already  seen,  without  beholding 
them  with  my  own  eyes. 

On  our  way  from  Port  Stanley  here,  we  passed  numbers  of  neat, 
newly-erected  wooden  houses  of  emigrants,  looking  generally  very 
comfortable,  and  occasionally  exceedingly  pretty  ;  with  the  bright 
cheerful-looking  clearings  about  them,  and  the  grandeur  of  the  fine 
sombre  old  forests  stretching  away  around  them,  as  if  to  shut  out 

the  every-day  ivorldly  world.  Colonel  and  Mrs.  A have 

made  this  house  delightfully  comfortable,  and  there  is  an  air  of 
true  English  comfort  and  of  that  indescribable  refinement,  which 
the  gorgeously-furnished  saloons  and  chambers  of  the  hotels  we 
have  lately  been  at  in  New  York  and  other  places,  did  not  pos- 
sess. Every  thing  is  in  the  perfection  of  good  taste.  The  draw- 


LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS." 


ing-room  is  a  most  charming  apartment,  with  large  windows 
reaching  down  to  the  ground,  presenting  a  lovely  view  of  that 
fresh-water  sea,  Lake  Erie. 

My  own  room  is  really  quite  luxuriously  appointed  in  some 
particulars ;  first  and  foremost  with  regard  to  some  splendid  deco- 
rations and  draperies  of  beautiful  old  Greek  lace,  which  our  fair 
hostess  brought  with  her  from  the  Ionian  Islands,  where  she  had 
resided  for  some  time  (what  a  change  from  such  an  ancient  world 
as  grand  old  Greece,  to  this  grand  young  one,  Canada  !)  but  there 
is  nothing  gaudy,  and  nothing  that  looks  out  of  place  here  or  un- 
suited  to  the  general  character  of  simplicity  of  the  house,  owing  to 
the  exquisite  arrangement  of  all  the  subordinate  parts,  and  the 
graceful  tact  with  which  every  thing  has  been  ordered  and  con- 
trived. 

The  amiable  lady  of  the  house  tells  me  she  went  through  a 
great  deal  of  discomfort  when  they  first  established  themselves 
here,  which  I  can  readily  believe  ;  but  she  seems  to  make  a  capital 
and  very  contented  emigrant  now.  Her  charming  children — one 
or  more  of  whom  are  little  Greeks,  that  is,  born  in  Corfu — seem 
to  have  suffered  nothing  from  the  rigor  of  a  Canadian  winter,  and 
they  appear  thoroughly  to  enjoy  a  Canadian  summer.  Colonel 
Talbot  does  not  live  in  this  house,  but  in  a  sort  of  shanty,  which 
agrees  extremely  with  rny  idea  (probably  a  very  imperfect  one)  of 
an  Indian  wigwam,  close  by.  He  is  going,  almost  immediately, 
to  rebuild  it,  and  make  a  good-sized  comfortable  house  of  it. 

His  life  has  been  replete  with  adventures,  since  he  came  out 
here  as  a  settler  between  forty  and  fifty  years  ago.  He  has  per- 
formed almost  prodigies  here,  and  possesses  immense  tracts  of  coun- 
try in  these  wild  regions.  In  former  days  he  used  to  milk  his 
own  cows,  and  drive  them  home  from  their  pasturing  places,  for 
many  miles  sometimes  ;  and  besides,  he  did  all  the  household  work 
in  his  establishment;  cooked,  churned  butter,  washed,  &c.  His 
energy  and  perseverance  were  finally  rewarded  with  great  success ; 
and  he  is  lord  of  almost  a  principality  here,  and  of  a  very  flourish- 
ing one,  apparently,  too.  He  tells  me  he  is  in  reality  "  the  last  of 
the  Mohicans,"  having  been  adopted  many  years  ago  into  this 
gallant  tribe,  and  called  by  them  by  an  Indian  name,  which  I  will 
not  attempt  to  spell.  He  told  me  a  remarkable  instance  of  the 
accurate  memory  of  the  North  American  Indians.  It  seems  that, 
having  been  away,  and  not  having  seen  any  of  the  tribe  for  a  great 
many  years,  one  day,  on  his  return,  he  met  an  Indian,  whom  he 
did  not  in  the  least  recognize,  but  who,  the  moment  he  saw  him, 


30  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

repeated  softly  his  Indian  name  in  the  usual,  calm,  impressive  man- 
ner of  the  red  man.  Another  story,  not  of  a  Mohican,  but  of  a 
gentleman,  apparently  quite  as  cool  in  his  proceedings,  amused  me 
much.  It  appears,  some  years  ago,  the  colonel  called  to  his  serv- 
ant to  bring  him  some  warm  water  for  shaving  purposes.  The 
servant  did  not  answer  ;  and  after  repeatedly  calling  in  vain,  Colonel 
Talbot  ascertained  at  length  that  the  man  had  marched  off,  having, 
I  believe,  spoken  before  of  feeling  discontented  where  he  was,  but 
without  giving  any  reason  to  think  he  would  shake  the  dust  of  Port 
Talbot  from  his  shoes  so  suddenly.  Some  years  afterward,  Col- 
onel Talbot  one  morning  called  for  warm  water,  and  in  walked 
the  truant,  most  demurely,  jug  in  hand,  and  proceeded  to  take  upon 
himself  all  his  once  repudiated  valet  duties,  in  the  most  quiet  and 
regular  manner  imaginable,  as  if  he  had  never  been  absent  from 
his  post  for  an  hour.  He  alluded  not  to  what  had  occurred  ;  nor 
did  Colonel  Talbot.  The  Mohican  could  not  easily  surpass  that, 
I  think,  in  coolness  and  self-possession,  and  Colonel  Talbot,  too, 
was  evidently  not  made  one  of  the  tribe  for  nothing.  It  reminds 
me  of  a  Yankee  story  of  a  man  who  sent  his  young  son  for  a  log 
to  put  on  the  fire.  The  son  brought  a  mere  stick,  and  papa  whip- 
ped hirn ;  so  the  young  gentleman  went  out  again  for  a  large  log, 
and — never  returned ;  at  least  not  till  twenty-five  years  after- 
wards, when,  one  evening,  the  choleric,  corporal-punishment-lov- 
ing old  gentlemen,  was  calling  to  one  of  his  grandsons  to  bring  in 
a  "  large  log  for  the  fire,"  and  in  stalked  son  number  1,  2,  or  3,  as 
the  case  might  be,  who  had  so  unconscionably  absented  himself, 
with  a  Brobdignagian  log  in  his  dexter  hand.  The  old  gentleman 
looked  quietly  up,  examined  the  log,  threw  it  carelessly  on  the  fire, 
and  then  addressed  his  returned  runaway  :  "  This  'ere  log  '11  do ; 
but  you've  been  a  darned  long  time  a-fetching  it." 

Let  me  go  back  to  Niagara.  The  reader  may  imagine  our  good 
fortune  ;  we  had  a  second  thunder-storm  there,  far  finer  than  the 
first.  It  continued  through  the  whole  night,  and  the  lightning 
was  unspeakably  terrific,  like  a  long  succession  of  rising  suns  be- 
hind the  falls,  dazzling,  bewildering,  almost  blinding  it  was ;  but 
most  inconceivably,  incommunicably  glorious.  A  church  was 

struck  not  far  off^  and  severely  damaged.     V is  much  afraid 

generally,  during  a  thunder-storm  ;  but  we  both  fortunately  hap- 
pened to  think  it  was  sheet  lightning  (for  till  it  cornes  very  near, 
you  can  not  hear  the  thunder  for  the  chorus  of  the  cataracts). 
But  for  this  I  think  she  would  have  been  much  alarmed,  for  the 
sight  was  awfully  tremendous. 


CANADIAN  WINTERS.  31 

As  it  was  she  even  ventured  to  look  at  it  from  the  balcony. 
How  almost  supernaturally  sublime  it  looked !  Between  all  the 
flashes,  for  a  moment  or  two  it  was  pitchy  dark  ;  then,  when  out- 
leaped  the  piercing  lightning,  the  cataracts  burst  into  full  view, 
instantaneously  of  course,  in  all  their  overwhelming  majesty  and 
grandeur.  V — -^-exclaimed  that  it  looked  like  Vesuvius  in  vast 
eruption  (which  she  saw  last  year),  hovering  and  blazing  over 
Niagara  ;  and  really  it  was  a  very  fair  simile,  if  you  can  imagine 
an  intermittent  Vesuvian  eruption. 

I  think,  next  to  Niagara,  I  admire  these  enormous  forests,  with 
their  wild  wondrous  luxuriance  of  foliage,  of  every  exquisite  shade 
of  the  most  lustrous  and  resplendent  green :  they  are  sublime. 
Lake  Erie  looked  splendid  in  a  very  fine  sunset  the  other  evening. 
It  seemed  almost  paved  with  many-colored  jewels,  and  long  bars 
of  light,  of  divers  and  brilliant  hues,  crossed  it.  At  another  time, 
it  appeared  strewn  all  over,  from  the  horizon  to  the  shore,  with 
myriads  of  all  sorts  and  species  of  roses  ! 

Among  the  many  beauteous  trees  here,  I  have  admired  much 
the  sugar  maples.  By  the  way,  I  tasted  some  of  the  sugar  the 
other  day,  and  thought  it  excellent.  In  tea  or  cofiee  I  should  not 
know  it  from  the  cane  sugar ;  but  alone,  it  tastes,  I  think,  very 
much  like  sugar-candy.  The  children  had  a  little  pic-nic  in  the 

woods.  V was  superlatively  happy,  superintending  various 

cookings  and  contrivings. 

Our  charming  hostess  says  this  place  is  so  cold  in  the  winter, 
that  even  with  an  enormous  fire  in  her  room,  her  ink  has  frozen 
in  the  inkstand  while  she  has  been  writing  a  letter.  I  suppose 
this  is  owing  to  the  isolated  situation  of  the  house,  and  to  the  im- 
mense forests  almost  contiguous  to  it,  for  I  believe  no  such  inten- 
sity of  cold  (or  very  rarely)  is  experienced  in  the  cities  and  towns 
of  Canada. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Return  to  New  York — Courtesy  and  Hospitality  of  the  Americans — Butter- 
flies and  Humming-birds — Railroads  through  American  Forests — Rapid 
Progress  of  American  Civilization — Port  Stanley — Captain  Bawbee — De- 
scription of  Buffalo — Trading  Facilities  of  that  City — The  United  States' 
Military  Academy — Monument  to  Kosciusko — His  Garden — West  Point 
— The  Traitor  Arnold  and  Major  Andr6 — Constitution  Island — Oppressive 
Heat  of  the  Weather. 

WE  again  find  ourselves,  on  the  25th  June,  in  the  busy,  stirring, 
populous,  go-ahead  State  of  New  York.  We  have  suffered  much 
from  the  heat :  it  was  really  intense  during  our  journey.  The 
number  of  people  who  are  said  to  have  died  from  the  effects  of 
coup  de  soleil  here,  is  quite  extraordinary. 

I  like  the  Americans  more  and  more  :  either  they  have  im- 
proved wonderfully  lately,  or  else  the  criticisms  on  them  have 
been  cruelly  exaggerated.  They  are  particularly  courteous  and 
obliging ;  and  seem,  I  think,  amiably  anxious  that  foreigners 
should  carry  away  a  favorable  impression  of  them.  As  for  me,  let 
other  travelers  say  what  they  please  of  them,  I  am  determined 
not  t<>  be  prejudiced,  but  to  judge  of  them  exactly  as  I  find  them  ; 
and  1  phall  most  pertinaciously  continue  to  praise  them  (if  I  see 
no  good  cause  to  alter  my  present  humble  opinion),  and  most  es- 
pecially for  their  obliging  civility  and  hospitable  attention  to 
strangers,  of  which  I  have  already  seen  several  instances. 

I  have  witnessed  but  very  few  isolated  cases,  as  yet,  of  the 
unrefined  habits  so  usually  ascribed  to  them  ;  and  those  cases 
decidedly  were  not  among  the  higher  orders  of  people  ;  for  there 
seems  just  as  much  difference  in  America  as  any  where  else  in 
some  respects.  The  superior  classes  here  have  almost  always 
excellent  manners,  and  a  great  deal  of  real  and  natural,  as  well 
as  acquired  refinement,  and  are  often  besides  (which  perhaps  will 
not  be  believed  in  fastidious  England)  extremely  distinguished 
looking.  By  the  way,  the  captains  of  the  steam-boats  appear  a 
remarkably  gentlemanlike  race  of  men  in  general,  particularly 
courteous  in  their  deportment,  and  very  considerate  and  obliging  to 
the  passengers. 

I  must  not  forget  to  mention  the  delight  with  which,  at  Port 
Talbot,  we  beheld  some  beautiful  humming-birds  flying  about  in 


RAPID  PROGRESS  OF  AMERICA.  33 

the  garden,  and  such  gorgeous  butterflies  ;  it  was  quite  a  pleasure 
to  look  at  them  !  It  seemed  so  strange  to  see  these  tropical-looking 
humming-birds  fluttering  about  amid  the  bowers  and  trees,  that 
we  know  are  doomed  to  be  stripped  of  all  their  beauty  by  the  icy 
terrors  of  the  severe  Canadian  winter.  But  these  little,  delicate, 
diminutive  winged  "  flowers  of  loveliness"  migrate.  They  leave 
the  winter  behind  them  :  those  lovely,  tiny,  glittering  wings  bear 
the  little  feathered  miniatures  to  the  sunny  south,  to  revel  among 
magnolias  and  roses,  when  here  all  is  snow  or  storm. 

Though  we  had  a  v5ry  hot  journey  from  Buffalo  to  New  York, 
yet  we  had  the  advantage,  for  a  considerable  part  of  the  way,  of 
going  through  charmingly  shadowy  forests.  Railroads  in  the 
United  States  are  not  like  railroads  in  other  countries,  for  they  fly, 
plunging  through  the  deep  umbrageous  recesses  of  these  vasty, 
widely-spreading  woods,  whose  sweeping  verdure-loaded  boughs, 
go  arching  and  branching  about  the  "  cars"  in  all  directions,  shed- 
ding a  deep,  delicious,  intensely-green  light  around,  which  bathes 
every  thing  and  every  body  in  a  sea  of  molten  emerald,  and  is  ex- 
cessively refreshing  to  the  passengers'  eyes,  though  eminently  un- 
becoming to  the  said  passengers'  complexions ;  for  they  all  look 
there  exactly  as  if  they  were  playing  at  "  snap  dragon,"  and  the 
very  ruddiest,  and  most  rubicund  turn  to  a  sort  of  livid,  ghastly, 
plague-struck  looking  green ;  but  this  may  serve  to  give  you  an 
idea,  peradventure  (and,  I  assure  you,  not  an  exaggerated  one),  of 
the  cool,  and  verdant,  and  deeply-tinted  reflections  from  these 
overshadowing  masses  of  forests. 

Every  thing  in  nature  and  art  almost  seems  to  flourish  here. 
Schools,  universities,  manufactories,  societies,  institutions,  appear 
spreading  over  the  length  and  breath  of  the  land,  and  all  seem  on. 
such  a  gigantic  scale  here  too  !  Lakes,  forests,  rivers,  electric 
telegraphs,  hotels,  conflagrations,  inundations,  rows,  roads,  acci- 
dents, tobacco,  juleps,  bowie  knives,  beards,  pistols,  &c. !  modera- 
tion or  littleness  appear  not  to  belong  to  America,  where  Nature 
herself  leads  the  way  and  seems  to  abhor  both,  showing  an  exam- 
ple of  leviathanism  in  every  thing,  which  the  people  appear  well 
inclined  to  follow. 

We  were  quite  sorry  to  leave  charming  Fort  Talbot.  V 

intensely  regretted  the  poultry,  the  pic-nics,  the  sweet  pickaninnies, 
and  the. ponies,  besides  divers  other  bewitching  delights;  and  I 
lamented  over  my  beauteous  bower  of  old  Greek  lace,  my  splendid 
view  of  the  lovely  Lake  Sea,  and,  above  all,  the  kind  friends  who 
had  made  our  sojourn  there  so  exceedingly  enjoyable. 

B* 


TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 


We  had  an  enchanting  drive  through  the  glorious  forest  on  our 

return  to  Port  Stanley  in  Mrs.  A 's  carriage,  Colonel  A 

driving  us.  It  was  very  different  from  the  bumping,  thumping, 
break-bone,  and  break-down  vehicle  we  had  made  our  last  little 
journey  in  through  those  noble  woods.  By  the  time  we  got  to 
Port  Stanley  the  steamer  was  ready  to  start ;  and  after  inquiring 
concerning  the  health  of  our  kind  hostess  at  the  hotel,  we  put 
ourselves  on  board  the  "London,"  under  Captain  Bawbee's  obliging 
care.  This  singular  name  is  pronounced  Baby,  which  had  a  rather 
curious  effect  when  you  heard  it  addressed  to  a  very  manly-looking 
and  tall  person,  which  the  captain  of  the  good  steamer  "  London" 
happened  to  be.  Our  voyage  over,  we  stopped  at  Buffalo,  which 
is  situated  at  the  northeast  end  of  Lake  Erie.  It  has  altogether 
a  commanding  position  as  a  place  of  business,  being  at  the  western 
extremity  of  the  Erie  Canal,  and  at  the  eastern  termination  of 
the  navigation  of  those  mighty  lakes,  Erie,  Huron,  and  Michigan. 
The  city  is  partly  built  on  high  ground,  and  commands  extensive 
views  of  the  Lake,  Niagara  River,  and  the  Canadian  shore.  Its 
population  is  about  forty  thousand.  Main-street  is  a  very  hand- 
some street,  more  than  two  miles  long,  and  120  feet  broad. 

Buffalo  has  a  court-house,  a  county  clerk's  office,  a  jail  and 
two  markets,  in  the  upper  story  of  one  of  which  is  to  be  found  the 
common  council  chamber  and  city  offices.  There  are  about  twenty 
churches,  several  banks,  a  theatre,  and  numerous  very  excellent 
and  capacious  hotels.  The  one  we  were  at,  the  Western,  was  an 
exceedingly  good  one,  and  we  experienced  there  the  greatest  civility 
and  attention. 

A  pier,  extending  fifteen  hundred  feet,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
mouth  of  Buffalo  Creek  (which  creek  forms  the  harbor  of  Buffalo), 
constitutes  a  substantial  breakwater  for  the  protection  of  vessels 
from  the  furious  gales  occasionally  experienced  there.  There  is  a 
handsome  lighthouse,  forty-six  feet  high,  and  twenty  in  diameter, 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  pier,  built  of  a  yellow-tinged  lime-stone. 

Buffalo,  from  the  trading  facilities  it  enjoys  by  the  canal  and 
railroad,  in  connection  with  the  lake  navigation,  is  a  great  com- 
mercial mart,  that  lake  navigation  having  an  extent  of  some  thou- 
sands of  miles.  With  Albany  it  has  communication  on  the  east 
by  canal,  and  thence  by  a  regular  chain  of  railroads  five  hundred 
and  twenty-five  miles  long,  on  with  Boston.  And  on  the  north- 
east it  is  also  connected  by  railroad  with  the  Niagara  Falls  and 
Lewiston.  What  a  mighty  city  will  this  most  likely  be  twenty 
years  hence ! 


CONSTITUTION  ISLAND.  35 

We  came  from  Albany  in  a  rapid  and  beautiful  steamer  called 
the  "  Alida ;"  the  day  was  almost  insufferably  hot,  and  the  quan- 
tity of  ice-water  consumed  by  the  passengers  was  truly  prodigious. 
We  took  up  some  very  military-looking  students  at  West  Point, 
from  "  the  United  States  Military  Academy"  there.  Their  uni- 
form was  handsome,  though  very  simple,  and  they  were  as  upright 
as  Prussian  soldiers.  The  academy  was  established  in  1802. 
There  are,  I  understand,  two  stone  barracks,  a  building  for  winter 
exercises,  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  long ;  a  Gothic  building, 
one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long,  with  three  towers  for  astronomical 
apparatus,  and  an  observatory  ;  a  chapel,  an  hospital,  a  mess-hall ; 
seventeen  separate  dwellings  for  officers  connected  with  the  insti- 
tution ;  workshops,  cavalry-stables,  store-rooms,  laboratory,  and  a 
magazine,  with  various  other  buildings,  including  twenty-five  dwell- 
ings, for  families  belonging  to  the  establishment.  There  is  a  mon- 
ument on  the  grounds,  erected  to  Kosciusko,  by  the  cadets,  at  an 
expense  of  five  thousand  dollars.  On  the  river  bank  is  "  Kosciusko's 
garden,"  whither  the  Polish  chief  was  wont  to  retire  for  meditation. 
or  study. 

West  Point  was  one  of  the  most  important  fortresses  during  the 
great  Revolutionary  War  :  it  was  considered  the  key  of  the  coun- 
try, as  it  commanded  the  river,  which  admitted  vessels  of  heavy 
burden  as  far  as  Hudson,  and  hindered  the  English  from  holding 
communication  with  Canada.  The  English  commanders,  on  this 
account,  were  very  desirous  of  obtaining  it,  and  its  surrender  was 
to  have  been  the  first  fruit  of  the  treason  of  Arnold ;  but  in  this 
he  was  balked,  by  the  arrest  of  the  unfortunate  Major  Andre. 

Oil  the  east  shore,  opposite  to  West  Point,  is  "  Constitution 
Island,"  where  are  the  ruined  remains  of  a  fort,  erected  during 
the  Revolution.  A  huge  chain  was  extended  from  the  island  t* 
West  Point,  to  obstruct  the  passage  of  the  river  by  the  troops. 
Part  of  this  identical  chain  is  said  to  be  shown  now  at  West 
Point. 

The  scenery  was  extremely  lovely  all  about  there — the  Hudson 
Highlands  wearing  all  their  sunny,  summer  beauty.  One  can 
hardly  imagine  that  blackest  of  all  demons,  Yv'ar,  flinging  his 
hideous  shadow  over  such  a  charming,  smiling,  lovely  prospect ; 
but  what  scene  of  beauty  or  gracefulness  does  he  ever  respect  ? 

A  mile  above  West  Point,  is  the  "  West  Point  Iron  Foundry," 
which  claims  to  be  the  most  extensive  establishment  of  the  kind 
in  the  country.  I  think  of  going  to  Washington  when  this  blaz- 
ing weather  moderates  a  little,  taking,  en  route,  Philadelphia  and 


3«  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

% f          __.r._i m^_.r     .  ....       _     .L_   __     .__._     __j_    .     

Baltimore.  The  thermometer  here  and  in  the  neighborhood  has 
been  98°  and  100°,  they  say,  in  the  shade,  and  people  declare  it 
was  never  so  hot  in  New  York  before — at  least  not  for  many  years. 
At  Albany  we  found  the  heat,  if  possible,  more  oppressive  :  not  a 
breath  of  air  seemed  stirring.  Suddenly  we  hailed  with  delight  a 
gentle  movement  of  the  light  muslin  curtain  round  the  window, 

indicating  a  soft  wind.     V rushed  to  the  window  to  inhale 

it,  but  as  speedily  rushed  back  again,  declaring  it  was  as  hot  as  the 
air  of  ten  furnaces.  The  present  is  a  broiling  morning :  a  sky 
like  a  great  turquoise  roof  on  fire,  a  sun  like  a  hundred  suns,  a 
breathless  clear  atmosphere,  without  the  least  dream  of  any  thing 
that  reminds  you  of  air — and  there  is  a  thundering  salute  going  on 
now  (for  what,  I  know  not,  unless  they  are  saluting  the  sun,  who 
certainly  seems  victorious  over  every  thing  and  every  body  just 
now,  striking  down  man  and  horse)  which  cruelly  makes  one  think 
of  "  villainous  saltpetre, "and  such  hot  compounds,  when  Wenham 
Lake  ice,  and  the  expedition  to  the  North  Pole,  are  the  only  fit 
and  pleasant  subjects  for  reflection  at  present. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

Boston — The  Park — The  Tremont  Hotel — Its  luxurious  Appointments — Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Abbott  Lawrence — The  "  Book  of  the  World" — Description  of 
Boston;  The  Bridges — Their  Immense  length — The  Western  Avenue — 
Boston  Harbor — Anticipated  Rejoicings  on  the  Anniversary  of  American 
Independence — Boston  Newspapers  and  Reviews — Supply  of  Water  to  the 
City — Its  Docks  and  Wharves — Public  Buildings — The  State  House — 
The  Custom  House — The  Athenaeum — The  Exchange  and  Lowell  Insti- 
tute.— The  crowded  Stores — Constant  Alarm  of  Fires. 

ON  July  3d  we  arrived  at  Boston,  and  took  up  our  quarters  at 
the  Tremont  House. 

Boston  is  a  very  handsome,  very  large,  and  very  clean  town, 
apparently  kept  in  admirable  order  :  it  has  a  pretty  little  park, 
called  by  the  modest  name  of  "the  Common,"  and  a  splendid 
State  House,  magnificently  situated  on  Beacon  Hill ;  this  is  a  very 
imposing  looking  structure,  and  crowns  the  height  superbly.  The 
town  reminds  me  of  an  English  one  in  many  respects,  but  yet  more 
of  a  Dutch  one. 

To-morrow  they  have  a  grand  commemorative  festival,  in  honor 
of  their  independence,  and  we,  poor  English,  must  make  up  our 


COMMEMORATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.  87 

i . ____ — . 1 

minds  to  hear  them  "  Yankee-doodling,"  and  "  Hail  Columbia- 
ing,"  all  day  long.  I  shall  shut  myself  up  pretty  closely  on  the 
occasion  to  save  my  feelings  of  nationality,  especially  as  I  have  no 
idea  of  seeing  "the  Crown  of  England"  burnt  in  a  fire-work  and 
consumed  to  ashes,  as  it  is  announced  in  a  pompous  advertisement 
it  is  going  to  be,  for  the  pleasing  recreation  of  Brother  Jonathan. 
I  hope,  I  must  confess,  that  just  at  that  moment  it  will  rain  in 
torrents,  and  put  out  their  very  impertinent  and  presumptuous 
pyrotechnics  without  loss  of  time  :  the  English  crown  thus  may 
not  be  consumed  to  a  cinder  after  all. 

It  will  be  suspected  that  I  am  exceedingly  wroth  against  said 
Brother  Jonathan  just  now !  but  it  is  a  spite  and  anger  confined 
exclusively  to  the  4th  of  July  !  and  on  the  5th  I  shall  be  quite 
friends  with  him  again ;  nay,  I  almost  think  my  fury  may  be 
hushed  before  the  4th  itself  dawns  ;  though,  if  what  I  hear  is  cor- 
rect of  the  immense  and  noisy  excitement  in  general  through  the 
whole  night  preceding  "Independence  day,"  the  lullaby  will  be 
of  a  rather  rough  description !  But  our  American  cousins  are 
such  a  good-humored,  kindly-dispositioned  people,  that  I  think  one 
could  not  well  be  sulky  with  them  long.  Apropos  of  noise — I 
believe,  to  keep  our  tempers  a  little,  it  would  be  a  good  plan  to 
stuff" our  ears  with  cotton,  and  so  be  " independent"  in  our  turn, 
of  their  uncivil  serenadings,  salutings,  drummings,  trumpetings, 
and  fireworkings. 

The  Americans  are  very  busy  just  now  abusing  the  French  for 
their  Roman  war  :  they  call  them  cowards,  and  all  sorts  of  hard 
names.  As  they  are  in  this  mood  they  might  as  well,  for  variety's 
sake  burn  the  Gallic  liberty-cap  to-morrow  instead  of  the  crown 
of  England.  They  are,  evidently,  very  indignant  at  the  anti- 
republican  turn  affairs  are  taking  in  France.  However,  France 
has  become  lately  such  a  spinning,  twisting-about,  volcanic  tee-to- 
tum,  that  who  can  guess  what  news  the  next  steamer  may  bring  out  1 

To-day  is  a  beauteous  day — not  too  hot,  yet  sunny-bright,  and 
with  a  charming  fresh  breeze.  We  have  comfortable,  quiet,  pri- 
vate apartments  in  this  huge  hotel  :  our  drawing-room  is  a  very 
nice  one,  and  is  quite  away  from  all  the  bustle  of  visitors  arriving 
and  departing.  The  master,  or  rather  masters  (for  there  are  two, 
if  not  more),  are  extremely  civil ;  and  the  attendance  is  very  good. 
Finger-posts  are  placed  in  some  of  the  passages  to  direct  bewilder- 
ed and  foot-sore  wanderers  to  their  own  rooms.  I  think  a  few 
light  omnibuses  might  run  on  the  different  lines  of  passage  with 
much  profit.  Immense  as  the  hotel  is,  our  apartments  are  so 


38  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

secluded  that  we  hear  but  little  noise,  and  suffer  no  inconvenience 
whatever  from  the  house  being  very  full.  I  have  not  yet  dined 
one  day  in  public  since  my  arrival  in  America — it  must  be  ex- 
tremely unpleasant  for  ladies. 

We  have  made  acquaintance  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Abbott  Law- 
rence (Mr.  Bancroft  was  good  enough  to  give  me  letters  to  them 

at  Lady  J 's  request,  as  I  had  not  the  pleasure  of  knowing 

him) ;  they  leave  America  in  October.  They  are  most  kind  and 
friendly  ;  he  is  one  of  the  great  merchant  princes  of  this  wonder- 
ful land,  and  a  very  distinguished  man ;  and  Mrs.  Lawrence  ap- 
pears to  be  every  thing  that  is  amiable  and  kind.  Mr.  Lawrence 
has  just  given  me  a  very  interesting  book,  called  "  The  Book  of 
the  World  :"  it  is  replete  with  information,  and  is  written  nearly 
up  to  the  present  day,  and  it  really  seems  to  be  almost  what  it 
calls  itself,  which  is  a  pretty  "  considerable  deal." 

This  good  city  of  Boston  is  connected  with  the  surrounding 
country  by  bridges  and  artificial  avenues,  being  built  upon  a  pen- 
insula of  nearly  three  miles  in  length,  with  an  average  breadth  of 
a  mile,  and  with  many  elevations  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  and 
ten  feet  above  the  sea,  giving  the  city  a  remarkably  noble  appear- 
ance, particularly,  I  am  told  when  beheld  from  the  sea,  which 
view  of  it  I  have  not  yet  seen.  The  population  is  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  thousand.  Its  Indian  name  was  Shawmut,  but 
the  first  settlers  called  it  Trimountain,  from  the  three  hills  on 
which  it  is  built. 

Boston  communicates  with  East  Boston  (formerly  Noddle's 
Island)  and  Chelsea  by  means  of  steam  ferry-boats,  which  ply 
regularly  during  the  day.  Among  the  most  peculiar  curiosities  of 
the  place  are  the  bridges,  which  differ  in  their  construction  from 
any  thing  of  their  kind  elsewhere,  and  their  immense  length  and 
the  lovely  views  they  present,  make  them  very  interesting  and 
attractive,  especially  to  foreigners.  With  Roxbury,  Boston  is 
connected  by  the  neck  which  forms  the  peninsula  on  which  the 
city  is  built.  With  Charlestown  it  is  united  by  the  Charles  River, 
or  Old  Charlestown  Bridge,  and  by  Warren  Bridge.  The  former 
is  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  three  feet  long,  forty-two  in 
breadth,  and  cost  more  than  fifty  thousand  dollars.  Warren 
Bridge  is  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  ninety  feet ;  breadth, 
forty-five.  No  toll  is  taken  on  these  bridges :  there  was  one  for- 
merly ;  but  on  their  becoming  state  property  it  was  done  away  with. 

West  Boston  Bridge,  leading  to  Old  Cambridge,  rests  on  one 
hundred  and  eighty  piers,  and,  with  causeway  and  abutments,  is 


BOSTON  BRIDGES  AND  HARBOR.  S« 

six  thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety  feet  long.  Craigie's  or 
Canal  Bridge,  leading  to  Lechmere  Point,  in  East  Cambridge,  is 
two  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-six  feet  long  and  forty  feet 
broad  :  a  branch  extends  from  it  to  Prison  Point,  Charlestown,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty  feet  long,  and  thirty-five  feet 
wide.  The  western  avenue  or  mill-dam  reaches  from  the  foot  of 
Beacon-street  to  SewelTs  Point  in  Brookline.  It  is  strongly  con- 
structed of  stones  and  earth,  and  is  a  mile  and  a  half  long,  and 
from  sixty  to  one  hundred  feet  broad. 

This  incloses  about  six  hundred  acres  of  flats,  over  which  for- 
merly the  tide  flowed.  This  inclosure  is  divided  by  a  cross  dam, 
which,  aided  by  flood  and  ebb-gates,  forms  a  receiving  basin,  pro- 
ducing thereby  a  great  extent  of  water-power  at  all  periods.  This 
work  cost  about  seven  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Boston  Free 
Bridge,  to  South  Boston,  is  five  hundred  feet  long,  thirty-eight 
wide.  South  Boston  Bridge,  leading  from  the  "  Neck"  to  South 
Boston,  is  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long ;  width 
forty  feet.*  They  are  all  well  lighted  by  lamps,  and  in  addition 
to  them,  numerous  as  they  are,  there  are  various  railroad  bridges 
or  viaducts  over  the  river.  Does  not  Boston  deserve  to  be  called 
the  City  of  Bridges  ? 

It  possesses  one  of  the  best  harbors  in  the  United  States.  The 
harbor  extends  from  Nantasket  to  the  city,  and  spreads  from  Na- 
hant  to  Hingham,  containing  seventy-five  square  miles  :  it  con- 
tains many  islands,  among  them  some  beautiful  ones  :  it  is  safe 
and  spacious.  The  inner  harbor  has  a  depth  of  water  sufficient 
for  five  hundred  vessels  of  the  largest  class  to  ride  at  anchor  in 
safety,  with  so  narrow  an  entrance  as  scarcely  to  admit  two  ships 
abreast.  Boston  consists  of  three  parts  :  Boston  on  the  Peninsula, 
South  Boston,  and  East  Boston.  The  "  Neck,"  or  Isthmus,  which 
formerly  constituted  the  only  connection  of  the  Peninsula  with  the 
main  land,  still  forms  the  main  avenue  to  the  city  from  the  south. 
Boston  harbor  is  defended  by  forts  Independence  and  Warren,  the 
latter  of  which  is  on  Governor  Island,  and  the  former  on  Castle 
Island.  The  outside  harbor  is  protected  by  a  strong  fortress  on. 
George's  Island. 

Of  course  sight-seeing  to-morrow  is  out  of  the  question,  and  from 
the  moment  when  the  sun  rises  on  seas  of  sherry-cobblers  and  cata- 
racts of  mint-juleps,  miles  of  flags,  wildnernesses  of  crackers,  pyramids 
of  edibles,  mountains  of  lollypops,  and  monster-trains,  and  legions 

*  These  figures  are  taken  from  "  Appleton's  Railway  Companion." 


40  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

of  little  boys  (and  little  girls,  too,  if  my  information  be  correct),  who, 
I  hear,  generally  shoot  with  pistols  at  friend,  or  foe,  or  each  other, 
during  the  day,  and  frequently  end  by  maiming  themselves  severe- 
ly— there  will  be  no  peace  in  Boston.  But  though  I  did  not  like 
their  promised  entertainment  of  fireworks,  yet,  when  I  recollect 
how  abominably  ill  England  behaved  before  she  forced  this  country 
into  a  revolution,  I  can — nationality  notwithstanding — rejoice  with 
them  a  little  in  their  joy  at  the  return  of  the  Anniversary  of  their 
Independence,  and  feel  a  slight  something  of  their  exuberant  exult- 
ation, and,  therefore,  not  only  endure  philosophically,  but  greet 
cordially,  their  festive  demonstrations — -except  the  fireworks  and 
that  thrice  villainous  and  atrocious  device.  They  stick  in  my 
throat  terribly.  I  wonder  whether  it  will  rain  to-morrow  evening ! 

In  my  transatlantic  travels,  I  do  not  feel  so  far  away  from  home 
as  I  thought  I  should ;  the  Cunard  steamers  are  so  regular  and 
rapid  in.  their  passage,  they  are  now  generally  here  to  the  day  they 
are  expected.  What  a  fast  age  we  live  in  ! 

The  American  newspapers  amuse  me  much  ;  they  are  so  unlike 
any  thing  else  of  their  kind.  There  are  thirty-six  newspapers 
published  here,  of  which  twelve  are  daily,  the  rest  are  semi-week- 
ly and  weekly.  In  addition  to  these,  there  are  a  good  many  reviews 
and  magazines.  "  The  North  American  Review"  is,  I  believe, 
the  most  distinguished  of  the  former. 

Boston  is  capitally  provided  with  water  from  Long  Pond,  now 
named  Cochituate  Lake.  This  lake  covers  an  area  of  six  hund- 
red and  fifty-nine  acres,  and  drains  a  surface  of  eleven  thousand 
four  hundred  acres.  In  some  places  it  is  seventy  feet  deep,  and  is 
elevated  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  feet  above  tide-water  in 
Boston  harbor :  the  Boston  reservoir,  situated  on  Beacon-hill, 
covers  an  area  of  forty  thousand  feet.  The  water  is  brought  in  an 
oval  aqueduct,  in  height  six  feet  four  inches,  and  five  feet  in  width, 
laid  in  brick  (with  the  hydraulic  cement),  about  fourteen  miles  and 
a  half  from  Cochituate  Lake  to  Brookline,  where  it  discharges 
itself  into  a  reservoir  of  thirty  acres  in  extent. 

The  water  from  Brookline  is  forced  by  its  own  pressure  through 
pipes  of  thirty  and  thirty-five  inches  in  diameter,  to  the  two  reser- 
voirs in  the  city ;  that  on  Mount  Washington,  at  South-Boston, 
which  will  contain  a  superficies  of  seventy  thousand,  and  that  on 
Beacon  Hill,  of  thirty-eight  thousand  feet.  When  full,  the  latter 
will  contain  three  millions  of  gallons.  These  reservoirs  will  de- 
liver to  the  city  of  Boston  ten  millions  of  gallons  a  day  of  the 
purest  and  best  water.  Wise  Bostonians  ! 


PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  BOSTON.  41 

The  entire  cost  of  the  construction  I  have  heard  will  probably 
fall  within  three  millions  of  dollars.  Wise  Bostonians  !  I  say 
again  :  they  will  probably  save  that  much  in  drugs  and  medicine 
ere  many  years  pass  over  their  heads.  The  doctors  must  be  the 
only  people  who  will  suffer  from  this  liberal  supply  of  the  pure 
element. 

The  docks  and  wharves  surrounding  the  city  form  one  of  its 
distinctive  features.  There  are  about  two  hundred  of  them. 
Long  Wharf  is  one  thousand  eight  hundred  feet  long,  and  two 
hundred  feet  wide,  and  contains  seventy-six  spacious  stores.  There 
are  numbers  of  fine  public  buildings  here.  The  State  House  is 
among  the  finest  :  its  foundation  is  one  hundred  and  ten  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  From  the  dome  there  is  a  splendid 
view  of  the  city,  the  bay,  with  its  lovely  islands,  and  the  wide  ex- 
panse of  surrounding  country  :  the  Bostonians  boast  that  it  is  one  of 
the  finest  views  in  the  Union,  if  not  in  the  world.  The  last  is  say- 
ing too  much.  Here  the  State  Legislature  holds  its  annual  session. 

The  new  Custom  House  is  handsome :  it  is  in  the  form  of  a 
cross,  and  has  very  superb  porticoes.  The  Court  House  is  a  fine 
building :  the  material  is  Quincy  granite.  The  Athenaeum,  in. 
Beacon-street,  has  a  library  of  about  forty-five  thousand  volumes, 
and  a  rich  cabinet  of  coins,  medals,  &c.  The  Exchange  is  a  fine 
structure  ;  it  was  finished  in  1842.  The  Lowell  Institute  was 
founded  by  a  Mr.  Lowell,  who  died  at  Bombay,  in  1836.  He 
bequeathed  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  the 
support  of  regular  courses  of  popular  and  scientific  lectures  :  by  his 
will  he  provides  for  the  maintenance  arid  support  of  public  lectures 
on  natural  and  revealed  religion,  physics,  chemistry,  with  their 
applications  to  the  arts,  geology,  botany,  and  other  useful  and  in- 
teresting subjects.  These  lectures  are  all  free  ;  they  are  delivered 
from  October  to  April,  during  which  period  four  or  five  courses  (of 
twelve  lectures  each)  are  usually  delivered. 

This  town  has  a  multitude  of  stores  teeming  with  goods  of  every 
description,  which  are  actually  running  over  from  their  crammed 
and  loaded  shelves  and  counters,  and  often  blockade  the  foot-pave- 
ments :  they  told  us  the  people  were  so  honest,  that  those  unpro- 
tected goods,  literally  thrown  at  their  feet,  were  never  carried  off; 
but  I  have  seen  complaints  of  the  custom  in  the  papers  occasion- 
ally— accounts,  not  of  shop-lifting  exactly,  but  side- walk-lifting,  with 
observations  as  to  the  impropriety  of  thus  almost  tempting  poor  peo- 
ple to  be  dishonest.  I  recollect  when  I  first  visited  Genoa,  think- 
ing art  and  fancy  seemed  to  overflow  there  from  the  very  windows 


42  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

of  its  stately  palaces,  so  gorgeous  were  the  richly-coloured  paint- 
ings of  saints,  historical  personages,  and  other  subjects  on  their 
walls.  Here  more  suitably  to  the  character  of  the  people,  it  is  in- 
dustry and  utilitarianism  that  can  hardly  be  contained  within 
bounds  and  limits. 

There  are  constant  alarms  of  fires  here.  I  think  hardly  a  night 
has  passed,  without  our  hearing  the  engines  going  full  speed  some- 
where or  other ;  but  in  general  it  proves  a  false  alarm,  and  after 
posting  along  in  "hot  haste,"  on  finding  all  cool  and  quiet  where 
they  were  bound  to,  they  come  deliberately  back,  to  make  the 
same  little  "  promenade"  again  on  the  following  night. 

The  first  night,  V and  I  were  quite  anxious  to  ascertain 

where  the  dreadful  fire  could  be,  for  the  engines  went  thundering 
through  the  streets  at  a  terrific  pace,  making  a  prodigious  noise  : 
we  soon  found  that  we  might  sit  up  all  night,  and  every  night  at 
Boston,  if  we  paid  any  attention  to  these  gad-about  engines  taking 
their  gallops  about  every  half-hour. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Plans  for  the  Future — Musical  Taste  of  the  New  Englanders — Cholera  in 
New    York — Transparency   of  the    American   Atmosphere — American 

Newspapers — Their  Personalities — A  signal  Instance — Mrs.  S.  M of 

New  York  and  her  Family — Miss  G of  Boston — The  Loud  Talking 

ascribed  to  American  Ladies — The  Town  of  Gloucester — Its  Trade. 

ON  the  27th  July  we  came  to  Cape  Ann  Pavilion,  Gloucester, 
Massachusetts.  The  place  is  truly  charming.  The  hotel  is  al- 
most in  the  sea,  like  a  very  huge  and  gayly-decorated  bathing  ma- 
chine— (the  only  one  here  by  the  way  !)  There  is  a  wide,  beau- 
tiful covered  veranda  all  round  the  house ;  then  comes  a  wee 
narrow  strip  of  beach,  then  a  low  stone  wall,  some  rocks,  and  then 
the  Atlantic,  so  close,  that  I  can  not  imagine  the  house  can  be 
quite  safe  in  winter,  unless  they  intend  to  strengthen  and  heighten 
the  defensive  wall.  The  hotel  is  quite  new.  It  may  be  imagined 
how  clean,  and  fresh,  and  nice  it  is. 

As  to  traveling  about,  and  seeing  sights,  in  so  hot  a  climate  as 
America  is  in  the  summer,  it  is  out  of  the  question,  I  find  ;  but,  this 
I  believe  is  an  unusually  hot  summer — the  hottest,  I  am  told, 
but  one,  they  have  had  for  twenty-four  years.  I  thmk  of  staying 
quietly  at  the  sea,  till  summer  is  over,  and  it  is  safe  and  pleasant 


CHOLERA  IN  NEW  YORK. 


to  travel ;  of  course,  this  will  necessarily  prolong  my  stay  :  every 
body  assures  me  I  must  not  think  of  going  southward  till  Octo- 
ber, particularly  this  year,  considering  cholera  and  the  great  heat. 

I  think  we  have  fortunately  found  a  very  quiet  and  healthy 
spot  here.  I  was  going  to  Newport,  but  heard  of  this  being  so 
very  nice,  that  I  thought  I  would  try  it  first,  and  I  think  I  shall  re- 
main here  for  some  time.  We  have  delightful  rooms  on  the  ground 
floor,  opening  on  the  sea.  It  is  very  much  like  being  afloat  in  a 
line-of-battle  ship,  we  are  so  close  to  the  grand  old  Atlantic. 

The  New  Englanders  appear  to  me  generally  a  very  quiet  peo- 
ple, and  very  fond  of  music :  we  hear  them  playing  and  singing  a 
great  deal.  Some  of  them  sing  exceedingly  well,  too,  airs  out  of 
Italian  operas,  &c.  They  have  a  good  piano-forte  in  the  ladies' 
public  drawing-room,  which  has  plenty  of  work  on  its  hands,  or 
rather  plenty  of  hands  on  its  keys  from  morning  till  night.  They 
have  an  excellent  piano-forte  maker  at  Boston  named  Chickeriug. 

I  hear  from^New  York  of  a  sad  increase  .of  cholera  in  that  city. 
My  correspondent,  poor  Mrs.  Barclay,  who  writes  in  evident  low 
spirits,  tells  me  of  the  death  of  some  of  their  friends  from  this  ter- 
rible disease  :  one  of  her  own  family  had  had  it  slightly.  I  believe 
the  wisest  thing  to  do  is  to  dismiss  the  subject  from  the  mind  as 
much  as  possible,  putting  one's  whole  trust  where  safety  and  pro- 
tection can  alone  be  found.  At  the  same  time,  of  course,  it  is  right 
to  be  properly  prepared,  and  to  use  the  necessary  remedies  at  the 
very  first  moment  of  alarm,  and  to  be  prudent  and  careful  in  diet. 
From  all  1  can  learn  of  the  spread  of  cholera  on  this  side  of  the  At- 
lantic, I  believe  most  of  the  fatal  cases  arise  from  carelessness  and 
neglect  at  first,  and  total  disregard  of  the  premonitory  symptoms. 

The  weather  is  lovely  in  this  delectable  place.  I  think  the  at- 
mosphere in  America  is  much  like  that  in  beauteous  Italy,  it  is  so 
exquisitely  clear  and  transparent.  Thus  the  grand  features  of 
this  country  are  presented  to  the  eye  through  a  lovely  lucid  medium, 
and  it  is  indeed  a  country  of  "  magnificent  distances,"  as  some  one 
named  its  unfinished  capital.  As  yet,  however,  we  have  seen  but 
little  of  it,  and  that  little  seems  less  when  we  recollect  how  much 
there  is  to  be  seen. 

Pine-apples  and  newspapers  are  rather  cheap  here  !  The  first 
(and  fine  ones)  at  a  penny  apiece  (owing  a  good  deal  to  the  preva- 
lence of  cholera,  which  makes  people  afraid  of  eating  them),  and 
the  second,  I  am  told,  many  of  them  at  a  half-penny  (English) — 
these  are  of  course  small,  but  really  sometimes  full  of  information 
and  news.  Some  of  their  most  distinguished  papers  are  admirably 


44  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

written,  and  replete  with  varied  and  extensive  information  and 
tidings  from  all  the  corners  of  the  earth  ;  there  seems  in  general  in 
their  tone,  I  think,  more  heartiness  of  feeling  and  more  freshness 
and  originality  than  in  ours.  What  I  do  not  like  in  the  daily 
American  press,  is  the  perpetual  and  sometimes  puerile  and  paltry 
attempts  at  wit  and  humor,  which  they  seem  to  thi»k  indispensa- 
ble, whether  in  season  or  out  of  season.  They  sometimes  mingle 
this  often  rather  ponderous  pleasantry  with  the  most  serious  accounts 
of  accidents  and  disasters.  Then  their  abuse  of  the  authorities 
and  people  in  office  is  beyond  all  idea  violent.  In  the  opposition 
papers,  the  most  unmerciful  vituperations  are  poured  forth  against 
some  of  their  most  eminent  men  ;  really  if  you  did  not  see  their 
names  you  would  sometimes  think  they  were  speaking  of  the  most 
atrocious  criminals.  It  might  almost  make  one  imagine  that  three- 
quarters  of  the  population  are  in  a  state  of  perpetual  irritation  and 
disappointment  at  not  being  President  themselves,  or  at  least, 
Secretary  of  State. 

Taylor  is  one  of  the  most  popular  of  men,  and  all  seem  to  be 
proud  of,  as  well  as  attached  to,  their  far-famed  "Old  Zack  ;"  yet 
I  have  seen  such  epithets  as  these  applied  to  him  in  their  public 
prints — "Journeyman  butcher,"  "Moloch,"  "Monster,"  "Nero," 
"  Tyrant,"  "  Ignominious  cheat,"  "  No  three  men  could  be  found 
on  a  jury  to  credit  him  on  his  oath,"  "  dolt,"  "  tool,"  "  fool," 
"cipher,"  "Cyclops,"  "fly  on  a  coach  wheel,"  "disgrace  to  the 
country,"  &c.  Still  this  is  only  an  ebullition  of,  perhaps,  quite 
transitory  wrath ;  and  the  next  day  their  good  "  Old  Zack"  will 
be  forgiven. 

We  have  made  acquaintance  with  a  very  agreeable  lady  here, 

Mrs.  S.  M ,  of  New  York.  She  has  charming  unaffected 

manners,  and  appears  to  be  very  accomplished  :  she  sings  remark- 
ably well,  and  has  a  handsome  Italian-looking  face.  Her  husband 
and  daughter  in-law  are  here  with  her  ;  the  latter,  I  believe,  older 
than  herself.  Her  little  grandson-in-law  is  a  pretty,  dark  child, 
and  his  youthful  grandmamma  appears  excessively  attached  to  him. 

A  friend  of  Mrs.  M 's,  a  Miss  G ,  of  Boston,  is  one  of  the 

loveliest  young  American  ladies  I  have  yet  seen-;  she  is  fair,  and 

a  little  reminds  me  of  our  own  beautiful  Lady  C.  V ,  in  the 

cast  of  her  countenance  and  the  line  of  feature.  She  looks  par- 
ticularly pretty  in  the  bathing  hat,  a  large  Swiss-looking  straw 
hat  which  she  sometimes  wears  also  out  walking.  She  appears  to 
have  the  softest  and  sweetest  manners  imaginable ;  and  all  she 
does  and  says  seems  characterized  by  extreme  grace  and  gentleness. 


TRADE  OF  GLOUCESTER. 


There  is  no  loud  talking  and  constant  giving,  of  which  travelers 
have  so  often  accused  American  young  ladies,  and  which,  I  believe, 
wherever  it  is  to  be  found,  is  greatly  owing  to  their  being  partly 
educated  at  large  public  schools,  which,  perhaps,  gives  them  a 
habit  of  pitching  their  voice  high,  in  order  to  make  themselves 
heard  among  numbers.  I  am  happy  to  say  I  have  not  yet  met  with 
any  who  have  that  unrefined  disagreeable  habit. 

The  town  of  Gloucester,  where  we  are,  has  a  population  of  about 
six  thousand :  its  trade  is  entirely  maritime.  The  harbor  is  reck- 
oned one  of  the  finest  on  the  whole  coast  of  the  Atlantic.  The  town 
contains  seven  churches  and  various  public  buildings  ;  the  inhab- 
itants are  mostly  employed  in  the  halibut,  cod,  and  mackerel  fish- 
eries ;  and  there  are  about  seventeen  thousand  tons  of  shipping  here. 
Quite  a  little  navy  (chiefly  from  Newfoundland  station)  came  in 
the  other  day  to  take  shelter  in  the  harbor  from  a  gale  at  sea.  If  it 
is  true  that  Newport  is  very  foggy,  which  I  am  told  it  is,  I  think 
this  must  be  a  far  preferable  place  of  summer  residence.  Colonel 
Green  and  his  lady  called  on  me  the  other  day.  He  is  the  accom- 
plished editor  of  an  excellent  Boston  paper. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Return  to  Boston — Fire  Engines  and  their  Horses — The  Cradle  of  American 
Liberty — Faneuil  Hall — Boston  Prohibition  of  Street-smoking — Statue  of 
Washington  in  the  State  House — Anecdote  connected  with  it — A  Drum 
preserved  in  the  State  House — Visit  to  Cambridge — Mount  Auburn — 
Harvard  University — Professors  Pierce,  Silliman,  Guyon,  Sparks,  and  Agas- 
siz — Live  Coral  Insects  preserved  by  Professor  Agassiz — Reflections  sug- 
gested by  them — Museum  of  Professor  Agassiz. 

THE  weather  on  this  16th  of  August,  is  very  pleasant  at  Boston. 
I  hear  it  has  been  terribly  oppressive,  and  we  were  fortunate  to  be 
at  charming,  breezy  Cape  Ann. 

I  was  surprised  the  other  day  at  my  nephew-in-law,  E.  W , 

suddenly  making  his  appearance  here.  He  is  going  to  visit  New- 
port instanter,  and  then  is  off  to  Canada.  He  introduced  the  other 

day  a  friend  of  his  to  me,  Mr.  C.  S ,  a  most  agreeable  and 

highly-informed  person. 

The  thunder-storms  have  been  as  rare  in  America  as  in  En- 
gland this  year :  we  had  one  however,  the  night  before  last.  I 
hope  it  will  do  good,  and  clear  away  the  cholera  a  little. 


46  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

We  had  a  disagreeable  little  fright  some  time  ago  here,  occasioned 

by  the  passage  being  on  fire  close  to  V 's  room  (it  was  owing  to 

something  wrong  about  the  gas-pipes).  It  was  early  in  the  night 
fortunately,  and  as  I  thought  most  likely  some  of  the  numerous 
fire-engines  would  be  within  call,  taking  their  usual  constitutional 
walk  or  canter  (in  short,  taking  the  air  if  there  was  no  fire  to  take), 
I  did  not  feel  much  trepidation.  The  fire  was  easily  overcome, 
and  thereafter  I  felt  for  some  time  more  secure  than  usual,  think- 
ing that  for  a  fortnight  or  more  people  would  be  particularly  care- 
ful hereabout  concerning  fire,  in  consequence  of  this  little  warning, 
and  that  I  should  hear  those  fidgety  engines  at  exercise  without 
much  apprehension  of  their  being  called  into  requisition  by  us. 

By  the  way,  there  is  a  team  of  ghostly-looking  white  horses  at- 
tached to  one  of  these  engines,  that  truly  seem  to  have  no  repose. 
Like  the  restless  phantoms  of  wicked  horses,  they  haunt  the  streets 
at  the  witching  hour  of  night,  and  seem  to  wander  over  the  face 
of  the  granite  city,  without  object  or  aim,  as  if  disturbed  in  their 
graves  by  the  proximity  of  so  many  railroads  here,  and  feeling,  like 
Othello,  their  "occupation  gone" — at  least  that  of  their  fellows. 

I  saw  the  other  day  the  place  where  the  first  blood  was  shed  in 
the  great  Revolution — the  righteous  Revolution,  if  ever  there  was 
one  deserving  to  be  so  called;  yet  my  English  feelings  make  me 
dislike  always  to  dwell  on  the  details  of  it.  Faneuil  Hall  is  the 
American  cradle  of  liberty.  Would  the  reader  like  a  slight  sketch 
of  the  cot  where  so  sturdy  and  chopping  an  infant  first  began  to 
crow  and  squall  ?  This,  in  America,  universally-venerated  struc- 
ture has  stood  for  about  one  hundred  and  nine  years,  and  was  pre- 
sented to  the  city  of  Boston  by  Peter  Faneuil,  a  respected  mer- 
chant. Here  the  chiefs  of  the  Revolution  harangued  the  people 
in  those  troublous  and  perilous  times,  and  here  often  some  of  the 
most  distinguished  orators  of  America  pour  forth  the  living  fire  of 
their  eloquence. 

It  is  a  large  building,  but  not  architecturally  remarkable.  The 
lower  story  is  occupied  by  stores.  The  hall  on  the  second  story  is 
seventy-six  feet  square  and  twenty-eight  high,  having  galleries  on 
three  sides,  supported  by  two  ranges  of  Ionic  columns.  Portraits  of 
Washington  and  Mr.  Faneuil  hang  on  the  walls.  Above  this  hall 
is  one  of  about  the  same  dimensions,  devoted  to  military  exercises. 

There  is  a  regulation  here  that  reminded  me  of  Vienna.  People 
are  not  permitted  to  smoke  in  the  streets.  (I  know  not  whether 
this  is  still  in  force  at  Vienna,  after  the  various  changes  there.) 
This  they  appear  to  submit  very  patiently  and  unmurmuringly  to, 


WASHINGTON'S  STATUE.  47 


albeit  the  Cradle  of  Liberty  lifts  its  protecting  walls  so  near 
them. 

The  State  House,  on  its  noble  site,  with  its  handsome  dome,  is 
very  striking  ;  its  colonnade  is  fine.  There  is  an  excellent  statue 
of  Washington  in  the  large  hall :  it  is  enveloped  in  folds  of  massive 
drapery,  and  so  easily  do  the  graceful  robes  hang,  that  it  is  related 
of  a  countrywoman  coming  one  day  to  see  it,  that  she  exclaimed 
she  could  not  judge  of  the  statue  till  they  "  tuk  that  sorter  sheet 
off  of  it."  It  was  a  more  natural  mistake  than  that  of  a  purblind 
lady  visiting  at ,  who,  on  entering  the  hall,  gazed  with  re- 
spectful admiration  at  the  representation  of  an  Egyptian  mummy, 
and  it  was  found  afterward  she  had  imagined  it  to  be  a  former 
Bishop  of  Norwich  in  his  full  canonicals,  and  as  such  thought  it  a 
remarkable  likeness,  and  a  work  of  great  excellence  ! 

In  the  interior  of  the  State  House  are  the  two  chambers  of  the 
Legislature.  The  House  of  Representatives  has  accommodation 
for  about  four  hundred  persons,  and  the  Senate-chamber  is  rather 
smaller.  An  ancient  drum  is  to  be  seen  there  taken  in  one  of  the 
earlier  revolutionary  battles :  did  it  hear  the  glorious  words  Mr. 
Webster  once  spoke,  concerning  its  brother-drums  of  Britain?  If 
it  did,  I  marvel  almost  it  did  not  burst  out  into  an  extemporaneous 
and  self-beating  rub-a-dub  in  echo  to  those  noble,  generous,  and 
spirit-stirring  strains ;  if  a  drum  had  a  heart  in  its  skin,  it  would 
surely  have  done  so.  "  England,  the  beat  of  whose  drum,  keeping 
company  with  the  hours,"  &c., — would  that  my  memory  could 
serve  me  to  repeat  some  of  this  eloquent  outburst — but,  alas  !  I 
am  far  from  sure  that  even  these  few  words  are  correct. 

The  first  time  we  went  to  Cambridge  we  went  to  see  our 
amiable  friends  Mrs.  and  Miss  Everett.  They  are  in  the  Presi- 
dent's house,  and  are  to  continue  there  for  the  present.  After 
sitting  a  little  while  with  Mrs.  Everett,  we  went  with  Mr.  and 
Miss  Everett,  in  their  carriage  to  Mount  Auburn,  the  spacious 
and  beautiful  cemetery.  The  finely  diversified  grounds  occupy 
about  one  hundred  acres,  in  general  profusely  adorned  with  a  rich 
variety  of  trees,  and  in  some  places  planted  with  ornamental 
shrubbery :  there  are  some  tombs  graced  with  charming  flower- 
beds. There  are  also  some  pretty  sheets  of  water  there  :  it  is 
divided  into  different  avenues  and  paths,  which  have  various 
names.  Generally  they  are  called  after  the  trees  or  flowers  that 
abound  there,  such  as  lily,  poplar,  cypress,  violet,  woodbine,  and 
others.  It  is,  indeed,  a  beauteous  city  for  the  dead.  The  birds 
were  singing  most  mellifluously  and  merrily — it  was  quite  a  din 


48  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

of  music  that  they  kept  up  in  these  solemn  but  lovely  shades. 
The  views  from  Mount  Auburn  are  fine  and  extensive.  There  are 
some  graceful  and  well-executed  monuments  within  its  precincts. 

Afterward  we  went  with  Mr.  Everett  to  see  a  little  of  the 
colleges,  and  then  visited  the  mineralogical  cabinet.  Harvard 
University  is  the  most  ancient,  and  is  reckoned  the  best  endowed 
institution  in  the  Union.  It  was  founded  in  1638,  and  from  a 
donation  made  to  it  by  the  Rev.  John  Harvard  it  was  called  after 
him.  We  paid  a  brief  visit  to  the  great  telescope,  merely  to  look 
at  it,  however,  and  not  through  it,  for  it  was  then  dull,  and  very 
cloudy,  with  no  prospect  of  its  being  otherwise  during  the  evening 
— it  is  a  refracting  telescope.  Mr.  Bond  himself  was  not  there, 
but  his  son  was,  who  is  already  a  distinguished  and  enthusiastic 
astronomer.  Mr.  Bond,  senior,  was  one  of  the  discoverers  of  the 
eighth  satellite  of  Saturn. 

Another  time  we  went  to  the  soiree,  which  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Everett  gave  on  the  occasion  of  the  meeting  of  the  American 
Association  of  Science  at  Cambridge. 

There  I  saw,  of  course,  many  learned  celebrities.  Among 
them — Professor  Pierce,  Professor  Silliman,  Professor  Guyon, 
Professor  Sparks  (the  new  President  of  Harvard  University),  and 
Professor  Agassiz,  the  celebrated  naturalist  (I  found  he  was  a 
cousin  of  my  old  governess,  Mademoiselle  Anne  Agassiz). 

This  very  distinguished  man — one  of  the  great  contributors  to 
the  world's  stores  of  science  and  knowledge — is  an  extremely 
agreeable  member  of  society,  and  a  very  popular  one.  His  man- 
ners are  particularly  frank,  pleasing,  cordial,  and  simple ;  and 
though  deeply  absorbed,  and  intensely  interested  in  his  laborious 
scientific  researches,  and  a  most  thorough  enthusiast  in  his  study 
of  natural  philosophy,  yet  he  rattled  merrily  away  on  many  of  the 
various  light  topics  of  the  day  with  the  utmost  gayety,  good- 
humor,  and  spirit. 

He  has  succeeded,  after  great  trouble  and  persevering  inde- 
fatigable care,  in  preserving  alive  some  coral  insects,  the  first  that 
have  ever  been  so  preserved,  and  he  kindly  promised  me  an 
introduction  to  those  distinguished  architects.  We  accordingly 
went,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Everett,  the  following  day.  M. 
Agassiz  was  up-stairs  very  much  occupied  by  some  scientific 
investigation  of  importance,  and' he  could  not  come  down,  but  he 
allowed  us  to  enter  the  all  but  hallowed  precincts  devoted  to  the 
much-cherished  coral  insects. 

M.  Agassiz  had  been  away  a  little  while  previously,  and  left 


CORAL  INSECTS.  49 


these  treasures  of  his  heart  under  the  charge  and  superintendence 
of  his  assistant.  This  poor  care-worn  attendant,  we  were  told, 
almost  lost  his  own  life  in  preserving  the  valuable  existence  of 
these  little  moving  threads,  so  much  did  he  feel  the  weighty  re- 
sponsibility that  devolved  upon  him,  and  with  such  intense  anxiety 
did  he  watch  the  complexion,  the  contortions,  all  the  twistings 
and  twirlings,  and  twitchings,  and  flingings  and  writhings  of  the 
wondrous  little  creatures,  and  assiduously  marking  any  indications 
of  petite  sante  among  them.  They  were  kept  in  water  carefully 
and  frequently  changed,  and  various  precautions  were  indispensa- 
bly necessary  to  be  taken  in  order  to  guard  their  exquisitely  deli- 
cate demi-semi  existences. 

Glad  enough  was  the  temporary  gentleman-in-waiting,  and 
squire-of-the-body  to  these  interesting  zoophytes  to  see  M.  Agassiz 
return,  and  to  resign  his  charge  into  his  hands.  With  him  this 
exceeding  care  and  watchfulness  was  indeed  nothing  but  a  labor 
of  love,  and  probably  no  nurse  or  mother  ever  fondled  a  weakly 
infant  with  more  devoted  tenderness  and  anxious  attention  than 
M.  Agassiz  displayed  toward  his  dearly-beloved  coral  insects. 

As  to  me,  I  hardly  dared  breathe  while  looking  at  them  for  fear 
I  should  blow  their  precious  lives  away,  or  some  catastrophe 
should  happen  while  we  were  there,  and  we  should  be  suspected 
of  coralicide!  However,  the  sight  was  most  interesting.  We 
watched  them  as  they  flung  about  what  seemed  their  fire-like 
white  arms,  like  microscopic  opera  dancers  or  windmills ;  but 
these  apparent  arms  are,  I  believe,  all  they  possess  of  bodies. 
How  wonderful  to  think  of  the  mighty  works  that  have  been 
performed  by  the  fellow-insects  of  these  little  restless  laborers. 
What  are  the  builders  of  the  Pyramids  to  them  ?  What  did  the 
writers  of  the  "  Arabian  Nights"  imagine  equal  to  their  more 
magical  achievements  ?  Will  men  ever  keep  coral  insects  by 
them  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  few  islands  and  continents  when 
the  population  grows  too  large  for  the  earthy  portion  of  earth  1 
People  keep  silkworms  to  spin  that  beautiful  fabric  for  them  :  and 
M.  Agassiz  has  shown  there  is  no  impracticability.  I  looked  at 
the  large  bowl  containing  the  weird  workers  with  unflagging 
interest,  till  I  could  almost  fancy  minute  reefs  of  rock  were  rising 
up  in  the  basin. 

What  a  world  of  marvels  we  live  in,  and  alas  that  the  splendid 
wonders  of  science  should  be  shut  out  from  so  many  myriads  of 
mankind ;  for  that  the  marvelous  is  inalienably  dear  to  human 
nature,  witness  all  the  fairy  tales,  ghost  stories,  and  superstitions 

C 


50  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

of  all  kinds  that  have  abounded  and  been  popular  from  age  to 
age.  Penny  Magazines  and  such  works  have  done  much,  but 
much  there  remains  to  be  done  to  bring  the  subjects  not  only 
within  reach,  but  to  make  them  more  universally  popular  and 
attractive,  and  less  technical. 

At  last  we  took  leave  of  those  marine  curiosities,  and  wended 
our  way  back,  sorry  not  to  have  seen  M.  Agassiz  (who  was  still 
absorbed  in  dissecting  or  pickling  for  immortality  some  extraordi- 
nary fish  that  he  had  discovered),  but  delighted  to  have  had  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  his  proteges. 

"  M.  Agassiz  ought  indeed  to  have  an  extensive  museum," 

said "  for  I  believe  every  body  in  the  States  makes  a  point 

of  sending  off  to  him,  post  haste,  every  imaginable  reptile,  and 
monster,  and  nondescript  that  they  happen  to  find."  I  should, 
assuredly  not  like  to  have  the  opening  of  his  letters  and  parcels  if 
that  is  the  case. 


CHAPTER'  IX. 

Plymouth — The  Pilgrim  Fathers — Mrs.  Warren,  a  Descendant  of  one  of  thp 
Pilgrims — Visit  from  Mr.  Prescott  the  Historian — Graves  of  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers — Visits  from  Daniel  Webster  and  from  Mr.  N.  P.  Willis — Samoset 
the  Indian  Chief — Energy  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers — Altered  Face  of  their 
Country. 

WE  have  come  to  famous  Old  Plymouth,  to  see  the  interesting 
gpot  where  the  first  Pilgrim  Fathers  landed.  We  paid  a  visit  to  the 
rock  which  it  is  said  their  feet  first  touched :  it  has  been  conveyed 
to  the  centre  of  the  village.  Here  they  landed  after  their  perilous 
voyage  in  the  "Mayflower,"  on  the  22d  of  December,  1620. 
Plymouth  boasts  of  being  the  first  town  built  by  civilized  beings 
in  New  England.  The  inhabitants  celebrate  the  interesting  anni- 
versary of  the  landing  every  year. 

We  visited  one  of  the  lineal  descendants  of  the  pilgrims,  soon 
after  our  arrival  here.  Mrs.  Warren  is  the  mother  of  Judge 
Warren  (with  whom  we  went) ;  she  is  a  most  charming,  delight- 
ful old  lady,  with  the  most  gentle,  amiable,  and  polished  manners 
imaginable ;  her  house  was  as  delightful  as  herself !  and  was,  I 
believe,  certainly  one  of  the  original  houses  built  by  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers.  Mrs.  Warren  seated  me  oa  a  precious  old-fashioned  chair, 


MESSRS.  PRESCOTT  AND  WEBSTER.  51 

that  actually  had  come  over  in  the  t:  Mayflower."  I  fancy  there 
are  pseudo-Mayflower  chairs  enough  in  various  parts  of  Massa- 
chusetts to  set  up  a  score  of  upholsterers  in  business ;  but  this, 
there  is  no  doubt,  really  came  over  with  the  venerable  voyagers, 
as  it  belonged  to  the  descendant  of  one  of  the  earliest  governors. 
There  were  a  number  of  old  family  pictures  in  the  room,  some  of 
them  by  Copley,  father  of  our  greatly-distinguished  Lord  Lynd- 
hurst  (who  was  born,  I  think,  in  Boston). 

I  hud  the  great  pleasure  of  a  visit  from  Mr.  Prescott  before  I 
left  Boston ;  he  came  from  Nahant  to  see  me  with  his  daughter. 
I  was  delighted  to  have  an  opportunity  of  making  acquaintance 
with  this  justly  celebrated  historian,  whose  works  I  had  read  with 
such  lively  interest.  Even  by  the  side  of  his  handsome  (and,  by 
the  way,  very  English-looking)  daughter,  he  still  looks  quite  a 
young  man,  and  he  seems  to  have  a  flow  of  spirits  equal  to  those 
of  Lord  Stanley  :  there  is  not  a  particle  of  pomposity  about  him, 
and  his  style  of  conversation  is  of  the  most  fresh,  original,  agreeable, 
and  striking  kind  ;  and  with  all  his  stores  of  learning,  and  varied 
knowledge,  there  is  the  most  complete  absence  possible  of  any  thing 
approaching  to  pedantry.  His  eyesight  is,  unfortunately,  defective, 
tut  no  one  would  observe  this  in  society. 

He  appeared  rather  absent.  A  short  time  after  he  had  taken 
leave  and  left  the  room  with  his  daughter,  we  heard  a  knock  at 
the  door  ;  on  saying,  "  come  in,"  Mr.  Prescott  appeared  again,  and 
said  he  had  left  his  cane  there.  He  looked,  and  we  looked,  chairs 
were  inspected,  sofas  pushed  about,  and  tables  trotted  out  from 
their  places,  when  presently  I  heard  a  subdued  exclamation  from 
Mr.  Prescott,  who  had  found  the  cane — in  his  hand,  where  I  cer- 
tainly did  not  think  of  looking  for  it.  He  laughed  good-humoredly 
at  his  forgetfulness,  and  he  and  his  cane  vanished  presently  together. 

We  have  visited  the  church-yard  here,  which  contains  some 
interesting  graves  of  the  old  Pilgrims.  Altogether,  there  is  much 
to  attract  and  to  please  in  Plymouth,  and  I  am  very  glad  I  came 
here. 

I  have  just  seen  that  great  man,  Mr.  Webster,  and  also  Mrs. 
Webster  who,  I  find,  are  now  staying  in  this  hotel.  He  is  a  friend 
of  my  father's ;  but  as  I  was  abroad  when  he  was  at  Belvoir 
Castle,  I  had  never  before  seen  him.  I  was,  as  every  body  must 
be,  I  should  think,  very  much  struck  by  his  magnificent  counte- 
nance— that  prodigiously  massive  brow,  those  mighty  eyes,  that 
seem  as  if  they  were  calmly  looking  down  the  depths  of  ages,  and 
that  grand  air  of  repose  (which  especially  appeared  to  me  to  char- 


52  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

acterize  his  aspect)  have  a  sort  of  quiet  mountainous  grandeur 
about  them  that  makes  one  think,  that  old  Homer,  had  he  not 
been  blind,  might  so  have  looked,  or  the  awful  son  of  Coalus  and 
Terra !  His  features  have  more,  I  think,  of  the  Oriental  than 
the  Occidental  cast ;  but  then  you  seldom  see  *so  much  intellect  in 
an  Eastern  countenance.  It  is,  indeed,  a  very  un-American  face, 
for  their  features  are  ordinarily  rather  sharp  and  delicate. 

Mr.  arid  Mrs.  Webster  have  kindly  asked  me  to  go  to  Green 
Harbor  ;  the  invitation  was  most  cordial  and  friendly.  "  Come, 
pray,  and  remain  there  as  long  as  you  can — we  shall  do  all  we 
can  to  make  your  stay  agreeable,"  &c.  I  look  forward  very  much 
to  going  and  seeing  this  great  man  in  his  own  house.  I  hear  he 
occupies  himself  much  with  farming  and  various  country  pursuits. 

I  am  afraid  there  will  be  no  change  in  American  policy  with 
regard  to  protection.  The  South  are  for  free  trade,  and  if  they 
can  carry  the  day  they  will  have  it. 

I  have  just  had  a  very  agreeable  visit  from  Mr.  N.  P.  Willis. 

V was  highly  delighted  to  see  this  well  known  and  popular 

American  author,  of  whom  she  had  often  heard.  I  hope  to  see 
Mrs.  Willis  to-morrow ;  she  is  the  niece  and  adopted  daughter^  of 
Mr.  Grinnell,  brother  to  the  Mr.  Grinnell  to  whom  I  have  let'terg 
from  Mr.  C . 

There  are  six  churches  in  this  small  town,  and  two  academies. 
The  hotel  is  called  Samoset  House,  after  the  friendly  Indian  chief 
whom  the  settlers  found  here  in  the  olden  time.  It  sounds  so  like 
Somerset  that  I  begin  to  think  my  cousin  the  Duke  of  Beaufort 
must  claim  some  very  distant  relationship  with  this  old  chieftain 
of  Massachusetts,  and  we,  of  course,  too  !  I  remember  finding 
something  like  traces  of  the  De  Rooses  in  Africa  :  so  at  'this  rate, 
it  seems,  I  shall  establish  very  amicable  relations  of  my  own  be- 
tween far-apart  and  widely  extended  countries.  Fbelieve  there  is 
some  curious  tradition  of  this  identical  old  Samoset  accosting  the 
newly-arrived  pilgrims  with  some  words  of  broken  English  ;  but  I 
do  not  exactly  recollect  the  story. 

What  energy  and  determination  those  old  Pilgrim  Fathers  showed, 
and  the  poor  Pilgrim  mothers  too  (who,  as  some  one  justly  ob- 
served the  other  day,  seemed  usually  consigned  to  an  unmerited 
oblivion).  What  hardships  and  heart-quakings  must  they  not  have 
gone  through  when  all  this  now  cheerful  and  cultivated  and  in- 
habited country,  with  its  profusion  of  towns  and  villages,  and  its 
multiplicity  of  railways,  was  one  huge  wild-waving  pine  forest ! 
Fancy  their  surprise  if  they  could  look  upon  it  now  ;  and  the  iron 


VISIT  TO  MR.  WEBSTER.  53 

trains,  and  the  electric  telegraphs,  and  their  dandy,  French-cos- 
tumed, mustached  sons,  and  their  polka-dancing  daughters ;  what 
would  great-grandmamma  think  of  that  ?  Mrs.  Hemans's  lovely 
lines  on  the  Landing  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  and  the  beautiful  music 
poor  Mrs.  Arkwright  wedded  to  them,  have  often  lately  recurred 
to  my  memory ! 


CHAPTER   X. 

Green  Harbor,  the  seat  of  Daniel  Webster — His  Guests — Description  of  his 
Mansion — The  Militia  General — Enterprise  of  American  Lady-travelers — 

An  instance — Mrs.  C from  China — Great  intellectual  Powers  of  Mr. 

Webster — A  Storm — "  My  Kingdom  for  a  Pin" — Anecdote  of  Lady 

— The  sole  American  with  an  aristocratic  Title — Extraordinary  Popularity 
of  Mr.  Webster  in  New  England — Anecdote  of  Mr.  Webster — That  States- 
man and  Mr.  Clay  never  Presidents  of  the  United  States — A  Cause  assigned 
— Appointment  of  illiterate  political  Postmasters — Mode  of  Living  at  Green 
Harbor. 

WE  have  been  much  charmed  with  our  visit  to  Green  Harbor, 
Marshfield,  the  beautiful  domain  of  Mr.  Webster.  It  is  a  charm- 
ing and  particularly  enjoyable  place,  almost  close  to  the  sea.  The 
beach  here  is  something  marvelous,  eight  miles  in  breadth,  and  of 
splendid  hard  floor-like  sand,  and  when  this  is  covered  by  the  roll- 
ing Atlantic,  the  waves  all  but  come  up  to  the  neighboring  green, 
grassy  fields.  Very  high  tides  cover  them. 

There  is  a  very  agreeable  party  in  the  house,  including  Mr.  and 
Miss  Everett,  &c.,  and  in  addition  to  the  guests  here,  those  stay- 
ing at  Mr.  F.  Webster's  (Mr.  Webster's  son)  generally  assemble 

here  in  the  evening ;  among  them  was  Miss  S .  She  was  an 

exceedingly  pleasant  and  agreeable  young  lady,  full  of  life,  spirits, 
information,  and  good-humor,  joined  to  mild  and  amiable  manners. 
Miss  F was  another  very  pleasing  specimen  of  an  accom- 
plished American  young  lady. 

This  house  is  very  prettily  fitted  up.  It  strikes  me  as  being 
partly  in  the  English  and  partly  in  the  French  style,  exceedingly 
comfortable,  and  with  a  number  of  remarkably  pretty  drawing- 
rooms  opening  into  one  another,  which  always  is  a  judicious  ar- 
rangement I  think ;  it  makes  a  party  agreeable  and  unformal. 
There  "are  a  variety  of  pictures  and  busts  by  American  artists,  and 
some  of  them  are  exceedingly  good.  There  is  a  picture  in  the 


54  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

chief  drawing  room  of  Mr.  Webster's  gallant  son  who  was  killed 
in  the  Mexican  war.  The  two  greatest  of  America's  statesmen 
each  lost  a  son  in  that  war,  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Webster.  There 
is  also  a  fine  picture  of  Mr.  Webster  himself,  which,  however, 
though  a  masterly  painting,  does  not  do  justice  to  the  distinguished 
original.  It  was  executed  some  years  ago ;  but  I  really  think  it 
is  not  so  handsome  as  the  great  statesman  is  now,  with  his  Olyrn- 
pus-like  brow,  on  which  are  throned  such  divinities  of  thought,  and 
with  that  wonderful  countenance  of  might  and  majesty. 

The  dining-room  here  is  a  charming  apartment  with  all  its  win- 
dows opening  to  the  ground,  looking  on  the  garden ;  and  it  is 
deliciously  cool,  protected  from  the  sun  by  the  overshadowing 
masses  of  foliage  of  the  most  magnificent  weeping  (American) 
elms.  These  colossal  trees  stand  just  before  the  house,  and  are 
pre-eminently  beautiful :  they  seem  to  .unite  in  their  own  gigantic 
persons  the  exquisite  and  exceeding  grace  of  the  weeping  willow, 
with  the  strength  and  grandeur  of  the  towering  elm.  I  was  told 
a  curious  fact  last  night.  Every  where,  through  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  States,  the  sycamore  trees  this  year  are  blighted 
and  dying. 

The  walls  of  the  dining-room  are  adorned  chiefly  with  English 
engravings,  among  which  there  is  one  of  my  father.  My  bed- 
.  room  is  profusely  decorated  with  prints  of  different  English  country 
houses  and  castles.  The  utmost  good  taste  and  refinement  are 
perceptible  in  the  arrangements  of  the  house,  and  a  most  enchant- 
ing place  of  residence  it  is.  All  the  domestics  of  the  house  are 
colored  persons,  which  is  very  seldom  indeed  the  case  in  this  part 
of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Webster  tells  me  he  considers  them 
the  best  possible  servants,  much  attached,  contented  and  grateful, 
and  he  added,  he  would  "  fearlessly  trust  them  with  untold  gold." 
They  certainly  must  be  good  ones  to  judge  by  the  exquisite  neat- 
ness and  order  of  every  thing  in  the  establishment. 

Mr.  Webster's  farm  here  consists  of  one  thousand  five  hundred 
acres  :  he  has  a  hundred  head  of  cattle. 

Mr.  F.  Webster  has  been  a  good  deal  in  India,  and  he  was  men- 
tioning the  other  evening  that  he  was  struck,  in  several  of  the 
English  schools  in  that  country,  by  the  tone  of  some  political  lessons 
that  were  taught  there.  For  instance,  with  regard  to  freedom 
and  representation  of  the  people,  &c. ;  the  natives  were  forcibly 
reminded  of  their  own  unrepresented  state,  by  questions  bearing 
on  the  subject — the  United  States  being  instanced  as  an  example 
of  almost  universal  suffrage ;  Great  Britain  itself  of  a  less  extensive 


AMERICAN  LADY-TRAVELERS.  55 

elective  franchise ;  France,  of  whatever  France  was  then ;  and 
Hindostan  especially  pointed  out  as  having  nothing  of  the  kind,  as 
if  they  really  wished  to  make  the  poor  Hindoos  discontented  with 
their  present  state.  To  be  sure,  they  migfct  as  well  go  to  Persia 
and  Turkey  for  their  examples.  Mr.  F.  Webster  seemed  to  think 
the  Hindoos  were  beginning  a  little  to  turn  their  thoughts  to  such 
political  subjects. 

While  we  were  at  dinner  a  day  or  two  ago,  a  new  guest,  who 
had  arrived  rather  late  from  New  York,  walked  in,  being  announ- 
ced as  a  general.  He  was  a  very  military  looking  man  indeed  with 
a  formidable  pair  of  mustaches.  Some  turn  in  the  conversation 

reminding  me  of  the  Mexican  war,  I  asked  if  General had 

served  in  Mexico.  Mr. laughed,  and  told  me  he  was  in  the 

militia,  and  had  never  smelt  powder  in  his  life. 

What  enterprising  travelers  American  ladies  sometimes  are ! 
My  Atlantic-crossing  performances  seem  very  little  in  comparison, 
with  some  of  their  expeditions.  It  would  not  surprise  me  that  any 
who  have  ever  gone  to  settle  in  the  far-ofl'  portions  of  the  country, 
and  been  doomed  to  undergo  such  rugged  experiences  as  those  de- 
scribed in  the  American  work  (by  a  lady)  called  "  A  new  Home, 
Who  '11  Follow  ?"  should  laugh  at  hardships  and  discomforts  which 
mig*ht  reasonably  perhaps  deter  less  seasoned  and  experienced  trav- 
elers ;.  but  it  must  be  a  very  different  case  with  those  habituated 
only  to  refinements  and  luxuries.  Mr.  Webster  had  told  me  he 
had  expected  for  some  little  time  past  the  arrival  of  a  lady,  a  rela- 
tive of  his,  who  had  lately  left  China  for  the  United  States ;  she 
was  to  leave  her  husband  in  the  Celestial  flowery  land,  her  inten- 
tion being,  I  beiieve,  to  see  her  relatives  and  friends  at  home,  and 
then  to  rejoin  him  in  the  course  of  some  months  in  China. 

Like  the  gallant  chieftain  spoken  of  before,  she  arrived  late,  and 

during  dinner  the  doors  were  thown  open  and  "  Mrs.  P ,  from 

China,"  was  announced.  She  came  in,  and  met  her  relatives  and 
friends,  as  quietly  as  if  she  had  merely  made  a  "petite  promenade 
de  quinze  jours"  (as  the  French  boasted  they  should  do  when  they 
went  to  besiege  Antwerp).  She  seated  herself  at  table,  when  a 
few  questions  were  asked  relative  to  her  voyage. 

"  Had  you  a  good  passage  ]" 

"  Very — altogether." 

"  How  long?" 

"  About  one  hundred  and  three  days"  (I  think  this  is  correct, 
but  I  can  not  answer  to  a  day). 

"  Pleasant  companions  ?" 


56  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

"Very  much  so,  and  with  books  the  time  passed  very  agree- 
ably." 

All  this  was  as  quietly  discussed  as  if  the  passage  had  been 
from  Dover  to  Boulogne,  and  the  length  of  the  time  of  absence  a 
fortnight. 

American  ladies,  perhaps,  on  the  whole,  do  not  travel  about  as 
much  as  we  do,  but  when  they  do  set  about  it,  the  uttermost  ends  of 
the  earth  seem  scarcely  to  alarm  them.  The  fact  is,  I  think,  that 
foreign  travel  to  American  ladies  is  rather  a  different  thing  to  what 
it  is  with  us.  Living  so  close,  comparatively  speaking,  to  all  the 
most  interesting  places  in  the  world — Italy,  with  its  countless 
associations  and  glories  of  art — Switzerland,  with  its  crown  of 
mountains  and  enchanting  scenery,  and  other  classic  lands — we 
can  so  easily  and  so  quickly  indulge  ourselves  with  these  glorious 
and  interesting  spectacles  ;  but  if  our  transatlantic  sister  wishes  to 
gaze  on  the  time-honored  monuments  and  transcendent  works  .of 
art  of  Old  Imperial  Rome,  or  the  magical  enchantments  of  Naples, 
or  the  Arabian-Night-like  glories  of  the  Alhambra  and  Granada  ; 
or  to  speed  to  that  Mecca  of  the  Americans — Paris ;  there  rolls 
the  broad  Atlantic,  and  she  must  prepare  for  the  fatigues  of  a 
regular  sea  voyage  before  she  can  hope  to  accomplish  it.  T^hus 
their  ideas  of  foreign  travel  are  necessarily  more  comprehensive,  and, 
perhaps  more  expansive  than  ours.  Without  doubt,  after  cjpssing 
the  Atlantic  the  Pacific  becomes  less  formidable  ;  but  I  need  not 
talk  of  foreign  travel,  when  part  of  their  own  America — California 
— is  at  such  a  mighty  distance  from  them. 

"  Mrs.  P ,  from  China,"  I  found  to  be  a  delightful  person, 

and  I  was  excessively  interested  in  many  things  Shd  told  me  dur- 
ing a  long  conversation  we  had  in  the  evening.  Some  of  her  ac- 
counts of  Chinese  proceedings  amused  me  greatly.  Together  with 
other  things,  she  told  me  that  at  Canton,  among  the  crowded 
population  who  live  in  boats,  it  was  a  regular  custom,  as  soon  as  a 
boy  could  crawl  about  on  his  hands  and  knees,  to  fasten  carefully 
around  his  head  a  sort  of  life-preserving  apparatus,  in  case  little 
Master  Chinaman  should,  when  occasionally  left  to  his  own  inven- 
tions, pop  overboard,  and  the  brother  of  the  sun  and  moon  lose  a 
valuable  subject.  But  no  such  tender  precautions  are  ever  taken 
with  regard  to  the  poor  little  Celestial  misses.  Their  brows  and 
waists  are  left  unbound  by  the  guardian  bladder,  and  if  they  be- 
come a  morsel  for  the  fishes,  so  much  the  better  for  the  finny  bon- 
vivant,  and  also  for  the  affectionate  parental  wera-barbarians  !  It 
is  not  unlikely,  if  this  is  the  case,  that  these  poor  little  supernu- 


DRIVE  WITH  MR.  WEBSTER.  57 

meraries  are  sometimes  assisted  by  a  sly  push  in  their  aquatic  ex- 
cursions. 

Mr.  Webster  was  good  enough  to  drive  me  out  yesterday,  and 
a  most  splendid  drive  we  had.  At  one  part,  from  a  rather  high 
eminence,  we  had  a  glorious  panoramic  view :  it  was  really  sublime  : 
ocean,  forest,  hill,  valley,  promontory,  river,  field,  glade,  and  hollow, 
were  spread  before  us  ;  altogether  they  formed  a  truly  magnificent 
prospect.  One  almost  seemed  to  be  looking  into  boundless  space. 
We  paused  at  this  spot  a  little  while  to  admire  the  beautiful  scene. 
How  meet  a  companion  the  giant  Atlantic  seemed  for  that  mighty 
mind,  to  some  of  whose  noble  sentiments  I  had  just  been  listening 
with  delight  and  veneration,  and  yet  how  far  beyond  the  widest 
sweep  of  ocean,  is  the  endless  expanse  of  the  immortal  intellect — 
time-overcoming — creation-compelling ! 

However,  while  I  was  thus  up  in  the  clouds,  they  (condescend- 
ingly determining,  I  suppose,  to  return  my  call)  suddenly  came 
down  upon  us,  and  unmercifully.  St.  Swithin !  what  a  rain  it 
was !  The  Atlantic  is  a  beautiful  object  to  look  at,  but  when 
either  he,  or  some  cousin-german  above,  takes  it  into  his  head  to 
act  the  part  of  shower-bath  extraordinary  to  you,  it  is  not  so  pleas- 
ant. My  thoughts  immediately  fled  away  from  ocean  (except  the 
defending  one),  forest,  hill,  dale,  and  all  the  circumjacent  scenery, 
to  centre  ignominiously  on  my  bonnet,  to  say  nothing  of  the  tip  of 
my  nose,  which  was  drenched  and  drowned  completely  in  a  half 
second.  My  vail — humble  defense  against  the  fury  of  the  ele- 
ments ! — accommodated  its  dripping  self  to  the  features  of  my  face 
like  the  black  mask  of  some  desperate  burglar,  driven  against  it, 
also,  by  the  wind,  that  blew  a  "  few,"  I  can  assure  the  reader. 

How  Mr.  Webster  contrived  to  drive,  I  know  not,  but  drive  he 
did,  at  a  good  pace  too,  for  "  after  us,"  indeed,  was  "  the  deluge ;" 
I  could  scarcely  see  him ;  a  wall  of  water  separated  us,  but  ever 
and  anon  I  heard  faintly,  through  the  hissing  and  splashing  and 
lashing  and  pattering  of  the  big  rain,  his  deep,  sonorous  voice,  rec- 
ommending me  to  keep  my  cloak  well  about  me,  which  no  mortal 
cloak  of  any  spirit  will  ever  allow  you  to  do  at  such  needful  mo- 
ments— not  it !  "  My  kingdom  for  a  pin." 

I  recollect  Lady ,  telling  me  how  her  life  had  once  hung  on 

a  pin.  Thus  it  was ;  she  was  driving  herself  one  day  across  a 
bleak,  broad  moor  in  Yorkshire,  and  it  began  rather  suddenly  to 
rain,  and  blow  tremendously.  Excepting  a  cloak,  she  was  very 
lightly  clothed,  and  this  said  cloak  blew  open,  flew  back,  and  made 
itself  as  odious  as  possible,  and  left  her  chilled  by  the  wind,  and 


58  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

drenched  by  the  rain.  She  was  delicate,  and  extremely  afraid  of 
cold,  and  was  shivering  from  head  to  foot :  at  last  a  friendly  pin 
was  found,  and  behold — perhaps  her  lungs  and  her  life  were  thus 
saved  ! 

When  we  arrived  at  Green  Harbor,  we  found  Mrs.  Webster 
very  anxious  for  the  poor  rain-beaten  wayfarers.  She  took  every 
kind  care  of  me,  and  except  a  very  slight  souppon  of  a  cold,  the 
next  morning,  I  did  not  suffer  any  inconvenience.  Mr.  Webster 
had  complained  of  not  being  very  well  before  (I  think  a  slight  at- 
tack of  hay-asthma),  but  I  was  glad  to  meet  him  soon  afterward 
at  dinner,  not  at  all  the  worse  for  the  tempestuous  drive ;  and  for 
my  part,  I  could  most  cordially  thank  him  for  the  glorious  pano- 
rama he  had  shown  me,  and  the  splendid  drive  through  what  seemed 
almost  interminable  woods  :  and  (since  we  had  got  safely  through 
it),  I  was  not  sorry  to  have  witnessed  the  very  excellent  imitation 
of  the  Flood  which  had  been  presented  before  (and  some  of  it  into) 
my  astonished  eyes.  Mr.  Webster  told  me  the  drive  through  the 
woods  would  have  been  extended,  but  for  the  rain,  ten  miles ! 

He  took  me  the  other  day  to  a  room  I  had  not  before  visited, 
and  showed  me  a  beautiful  picture  of  a  lovely  and  only  daughter, 
whom  he  had  the  great  misfortune  to  lose  last  year. 
.  I  am  about  to  leave  this  delightful  place,  for  I  have  an  engage- 
ment to  go  and  dine  at  Nahant  to-morrow,  with  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Prescott.  The  latter  I  have  not  yet  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting. 
I  believe  she  has  very  delicate  health. 

I  made  acquaintance  at  Plymouth  with  a  charming  Mrs. 
Thayer  :  her  father  is  said  to  be  the  only  American  who  possesses 
and  is  universally  known  by  an  aristocratic  title  :  he  is  the  lineal 
descendant  of  an  ancient  Dutch  family.  I  believe  the  title  is 
"  The  Patroon." 

I  can  not  describe  to  you  the  almost  adoration  with  which  Mr. 
Webster  is  regarded  in  New  England.  The  newspapers  chronicle 
his  every  movement,  and  constantly  contain  anecdotes  respecting 
him,  and  he  invariably  is  treated  with  the  greatest  respect  by  every 
body,  and,  in  fact,  his  intellectual  greatness  seems  all  but  worshiped. 
Massachusetts  boasts,  with  a  commendable  pride  and  exultation, 
that  he  is  one  of  her  children.  A  rather  curious  anecdote  has  been 
going  the  round  of  the  papers  lately.  It  appears  Mr.  Webster 
was  at  Martha's  Vineyard  a  short  time  ago,  and  he  drove  up  to 
the  door  of  the  principal  hotel,  at  Edgartown,  the  capital,  ac- 
companied by  some  of  his  family,  and  attended,  as  usual,  by  his 
colored  servants.  Now  it  must  be  observed  that  Mr.  Webster  has 


ANECDOTE  OF  MK.  WEBSTER.  59 


a  swarthy,  almost  South-Spanish  complexion,  and  when  he  put  his 
head  out  of  the  window,  and  inquired  for  apartments,  the  keeper 
of  the  hotel,  casting  dismayed  glances,  first  at  the  domestics  of  dif- 
ferent shades  of  sable  and  mahogany,  and  then  at  the  fine  dark 
face  of  Mr.  Webster,  excused  himself  from  providing  them  with 
accommodation,  declaring  he  made  it  a  rule  never  to  receive  any 
colored  persons.  (This  in  New  England  !  if  the  tale  be  true.) 
The  great  statesman  and  his  family  were  about  to  seek  for  accom- 
modation elsewhere — thinking  the  hotel-keeper  alluded  to  his  ser- 
vants— when  the  magical  name  of  "glorious  Dan"  becoming 
known,  mine  host,  penitent  and  abashed,  after  profuse  apologies, 
entreated  him  to  honor  his  house  with  his  presence.  "  All's  well 
that  ends  well." 

One  can  not  wonder  at  the  Americans'  extreme  admiration  of 
the  genius  and  the  statesman-like  qualities  of  their  distinguished 
countryman,  his  glorious  and  electrifying  eloquence,  his  great 
powers  of  ratiocination,  his  solid  judgment,  his  stores  of  knowledge, 
and  his  large  and  comprehensive  mind — a  mind  of  that  real  ex- 
pansion and  breadth  which,  heaven  knows,  too  few  public  men  can 
boast  of.  But  what  does  excite  wonder  is,  the  singular  fact,  that 
neither  he  nor  that  other  idol  of  the  western  world,  Mr.  Clay, 
should  ever  have  been  chosen  to  fill  the  highest  office  in  the 
United  States. 

It  has  been  explained  to  me  thus :  the  greatest  and  most  dis- 
tinguished statesmen  in  America  are  so  thoroughly  identified  with 
some  particular  party,  that  naturally  all  the  men  of  other  parties 
(and  party-spirit  appears  to  run  very  high  in  America)  are  vio- 
lently opposed  to  them.  A  comparatively  unknown  politician, 
therefore,  who  has  made  himself  popular  in  some  other  sphere — as 
the  present  President,  for  instance* — has  a  better  chance  to  occupy 
the  Presidential  chair  than  the  best  and  most  renowned  of  their 
statesmen.  In  short,  as  regards  the  politics  of  their  chief  magis- 
trate, they  appear  universally  to  prefer  what  is  called  ,jn  sporting 
circles  in  England,  a  "  dark  horse."  Whether  this  peculiarity  in 
the  working  of  their  constitutional  polity  be  for  good  or  for  evil, 
where  the  chief  magistrate  for  the  time  being  has  so  vast  au 
amount  of  power  and  patronage,  I  leave  those  more  conversant 
with  such  subjects  to  decide. 

Speaking  of  patronage,  it  may  be  well  to  allude  to  the  army  of 
postmasters  whom  every  successive  President  has  the  privilege  (of 

*  I  need  hardly  point  out  to  the  reader  that  President  Taylor  died  since 
these  remarks  were  written. 


TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 


•which  it  is  said  he  uniformly  avails  himself)  of  turning  out  on  his 
election.  In  the  newly- appointed  legions  of  this  class  of  adminis- 
trators, it  is  not  experience,  I  am  told,  or  fitness  in  any  way  for 
the  post,  that  is  considered,  but  the  direction  their  votes  have 
taken  ;  and  I  have  been  assured  that  sometimes  persons  are  ap- 
pointed— certainly  extraordinarily  illiterate  for  America — who  can 
not  read,  and  others  who  can  not  spell. 

In  one  of  the  public  prints  I  saw  the  other  day  an  attack  on  a 
recently  appointed  postmaster  to  Indianapolis,  the  capital  of  Indi- 
ana. This  functionary  wrote  from  his  then  abode  to  some  one  at 
the  place  of  his  future  labors,  and  spelt  the  name  of  the  town  thus  : 
"  Indian  Apolis."  Deponent  sayeth  not  whether  he  added  the 
name  of  the  State  as  Indian  Anna. 

The  mode  of  living  at  Green  Harbor  is  exceedingly  agreeable, 
quiet,  and  unostentatious,  yet  all  is  conducted  with  the  most  un- 
bounded hospitality.  Every  one  is  judiciously  allowed  to  follow 
their  own  tastes  and  inclinations,  and  read,  walk,  drive,  write,  or 
whatever  else  they  may  like,  without  any  formality  or  interference. 


CHAPTER,  XL 

Visit  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Prescott  at  Nahant — Paucity  of  Trees  there — A  mag- 
nificent Water-Melon — Beauty  of  Boston  Harbor — Poetical  additional 
Names  given  to  American  Cities— New  Bedford — Its  Population  and  Trade 
— Delicate  Politeness  of  a  Descendant  of  William  Penn — Martha's  Vine- 
yard— The  Hostess,  her  Son  and  Daughter — Woodsville — Naushon — Its 
Loveliness — The  One  Grave — Reflections  suggested  by  it — An  ancient 
Place  of  Indian  Sepulture — Verses  suggested  by  Naushon. 

TO-DAY  we  went  and  dined  early  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Prescott 
at  Nahant,  where  they  are  staying  for  the  summer.  They  have  a 
charming  country  villa  on  the  beautiful  peninsula  of  Nahant.  The 
town  of  Nahant  is  a  very  pleasant  watering-place,  about  twelve 
miles  from  Boston  by  water,  and  sixteen  by  land.  Near  Mr.  Pres- 
cott's  house  is  a  magnificent-looking  hotel  with  numerous  piazzas : 
the  sea-coast  view  from  his  villa  is  boundless,  and  the  perpetually 
high  and  dashing  waves  fling  their  fantastic  foam,  without  ceasing, 
against  the  wild  jagged  rocks,  which  abound  in  every  direction. 

We  started  by  railroad  to  go  there,  and  very  near  us  in  the  car 
was  a  respectable  looking  negro.  Mr.  C.  S ,  who  was  in  the 


BEAUTY  OF  BOSTON  HARBOR.  61 

same  car  with  us  (also  going  to  dine  at  Mr.  Prescott's),  pointed 
this  man  out  to  me,  at  the  same  time  saying,  that  this  could  not 
by  possibility  have  happened  two  years  ago  in  this  State,  so  strong 
then  were  the  prejudices  against  any  approach  to,  or  appearance 
of  amalgamation  with  the  black  race.  No  one  could  certainly  ap- 
pear more  humble  and  quiet,  less  presuming  or  forward  in  his  new 
position,  than  did  this  colored  individual. 

On  our  way  to  Mr.  Prescott's,  we  stopped  to  pay  a  visit  to  Mrs. 
Page,  the  sister  of  Mrs.  F.  Webster.  She  has  a  very  pretty  little 
country  house  at  Nahant :  she  made  many  inquiries,  with  much 
kind  feeling,  after  those  friends  whom  she  remembers  at  Belvoir 
Castle,  where  she  was  staying  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Webster. 

I  have  already  mentioned  that  Mr.  Prescott  is  one  of  the  most 
agreeable  people  I  ever  met  with — as  delightful  as  his  own  most 
delightful  books  :  he  talks  of  going  to  Europe  next  year.  He  tells 
me  he  has  never  visited  either  Mexico  or  Peru.  I  am  surprised 
that  the  interest  he  must  have  felt  in  his  own  matchless  works  did 
not  impel  him  to  go  to  both.  Mrs.  Prescott  is  very  delicate,  with 
most  gentle  and  pleasing  manners.  One  of  the  guests  was  a  niece 
of  Lord  Lyndhurst,  her  mother  being  Lord  Lyndhurst's  sister. 

After  a  most  interesting  and  agreeable  visit,  we  returned  by 
water  to  Boston.  The  sea  was  blue  as  a  plain  of  sparkling  sap- 
phire— quite  Mediterraneans  !  Nahant  is  certainly  a  delightful 
place  of  summer  residence,  though  it  wants  shade  :  trees  in  general 
most  positively  refuse  to  grow  there,  and  there  are  but  a  few, 
which  are  taken  as  much  care  of  as  if  they  were  the  most  precious 
exotics ;  but  Nahant  and  they  do  not  agree.  They  have  quite  a 
pouting  sulky  look  ;  and  it  is  almost  as  sad  to  look  at  them  as  it  is 
to  see  the  girdled  trees,  which  look  like  skeletons  of  malefactors 
bleaching  in  the  wind.  At  dessert,  at  Mr.  Prescott's,  there  was 
a  huge  magnificent  water-melon,  that  almost  might  have  taken 
the  place  of  the  Cochituate  Pond,  and  supplied  Boston  with  the 
crystal  element  for  a  day. 

In  returning  through  the  harbor  of  Boston  from  Nahant,  we 
were  full  of  admiration  of  its  scenery :  the  many  lovely  islands, 
with  which  it  is  beautifully  studded,  and  the  superb  view  of  Bos- 
ton itself,  so  nobly  surmounted  by  its  crown-like  State  House,  en- 
chanted us. 

Since  I  wrote  this,  we  have  had  a  very  agreeable  little  tour. 

We  have  received,  through  Mrs.  W ,  a  kind  invitation  from 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  Grinnell  to  visit  them  at  New  Bedford.  That 
inwn  is  called  "  the  City  of  Palaces,"  from  the  beanti  ' 


62'  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

it  contains :  it  is  also  the  great  whaling  metropolis  of  the  North. 
It  is  about  fifty-six  miles  from  hence. 

The  Americans  give  their  cities  most  poetical  and  significant 
designations,  and  sometimes  one  town  will  have  a  variety  of  these. 
For  instance,  this,  I  believe,  is  not  only  called  the  Granite  City, 
but  the  Trimountain  City.  Philadelphia  is  the  city  of  Brotherly 
Love,  or  the  Iron  City.  Buffalo,  the  Queen  City  of  the  Lakes ; 
New  Haven,  the  City  of  Elms,  &c.  I  think  the  American  imag- 
ination is  more  florid  than  ours.  I  am  afraid  matter-of-fact  John 
Bull,  if  he  attempted  suqh  a  fanciful  classification  would  make  sad 
work  of  it.  Perhaps  we  should  have  Birmingham,  the  City  of 
Buttons  or  Warming-pans  ;  Nottingham,  the  City  of  Stockings ; 
Sheffield,  the  City  of  Knives  and  Forks,  and  so  forth. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Willis,  and  Mr.  Willis's  musical  brother,  were  at 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  Grinnell's  beautiful  mansion.  We  paid  a  visit  to 
an  immense  whale-ship  that  is  in  the  course  of  busy  preparation  for 
her  voyage — to  the  South  Seas,  I  believe.  The  whale-fishery  is 
very  extensively  carried  on  at  New  Bedford.  The  population  is 
about  fifteen  thousand,  almost  all  engaged  directly  or  indirectly  in 
this  trade.  There  are  about  two  hundred  and  twenty-nine  vessels 
engaged  in  the  fishery,  which  is  said  to  be  continually  increasing. 

The  system  on  which  they  conduct  their  whaling  operations, 
seems  to  be  a  very  judicious  one.  Every  one  of  the  crew  has  a 
share  in  the  profits  or  losses  of  the  expedition  ;  it  becomes,  there- 
fore, his  interest  to  do  all  he  possibly  can  to  render  the  voyage  a 
prosperous  one.  All  are  eager,  all  on  the  look-out,  all  are  quite 
sure  to  exert  their  energies  to  the  utmost,  and  perhaps  this  is  one 
secret  of  the  success  that  attends  the  American  whaling-ships. 

Mrs.  Grinnell  had  a  little  conversazione  the  other  evening,  and 
among  the  visitors  was  a  beautiful  young  Quaker  lady,  a  descend- 
ant of  William  Penn.  She  was  an  extremely  pleasing  person 
and  her  conversation  was  very  animated  and  interesting.  Imag- 
ining that  perhaps  I  had  never  been  in  the  society  of  Quakers  be- 
fore, she  cleverly  contrived  to  converse  in  the  most  pleasant  and 
delightful  manner,  without  once  bringing  in  either  "thee"  or 
"  thou,"  or  "  you"  though  she  was  talking  to  me  almost  all  the 
evening. 

I  remarked  this  omission,  and  was  afterward  certain  of  it  when 
Mrs.  Willis  told  me  the  lady  informed  her  of  the  .fact  before  go- 
ing away,  and  gave  her  that  reason  for  her  delicate,  scrupulous 
abstinence.  She  would  not  say  "  you,"  in  short ;  and  "  thee"  and 
"  thou"  she  thought  would  appear  strange  to  me.  I  was  told  her 


MARTHA'S   VINEYARD.  t3 

family  are  in  possession  of  a  splendid  silver  tea-service  which  be- 
longed to  their  celebrated  ancestor,  William  Penn. 

We  went  from  New  Bedford  to  Martha's  Vineyard,  an  island 
in  the  Atlantic  not  far  from  New  Bedford.  There  we  staid  a  few 
days  at  an  unpretending  neat  hotel,  of  small  dimensions — not  the 
chief  hotel,  where  the  mistress,  we  found,  was  unaccommodating 
and  disobliging — a  very  rare  thing  in  America.  On  taking 
refuge  at  the  other  hotel,  we  found  we  had  reason  to  congratulate 
ourselves,  for  a  more  kind-hearted,  attentive  person  I  never  found 
than  our  new  hostess.  She,  poor  soul,  was  in  affliction  at  the 
time ;  for  her  son  was  about  to  go  off  to  California — indeed  his 
departure  took  place  for  that  distant  region  the  morning  after  our 
arrival. 

What  misery  has  this  Californian  emigration  brought  on  thou- 
sands of  families — unknown,  incalculable  wretchedness  !  There 
was,  as  may  be  supposed,  a  melancholy  chorus  of  wailing  and 
sobs  when  the  dreaded  moment  actually  arrived  ;  but  her  domes- 
tic sorrows  did  not  make  the  excellent  mother  of  the  family  neg- 
lect her  guests.  Nothing  was  omitted  that  could  conduce  to  our 
comfort ;  and  her  daughter's  attention  and  her  own  were  unremit- 
ting. 

Her  daughter  was  a  smart  intelligent  lassie.  One  day,  when 
she  was  in  the  room,  the  mother  hurried  in  to  ask  some  question 
relative  to  dinner,  or  something  of  the  kind.  She  had  previously 
been  baking,  and  her  hands,  and  arms  too,  I  believe,  were  white 
with  flour.  This  very  much  annoyed  her  neat,  particular,  and 
precise  daughter,  who  kept  dusting  her  daintily,  and  trying  to 
wipe  it  off,  and  drawing  her  mother's  attention  to  it  with  great 
pertinacity.  At  last  the  mother  said  she  hadn't  had  time  to  get 
rid  of  it — hoped  the  lady  would  excuse  it,  with  other  apologies, 
and  the  daughter  was  a  little  pacified.  One  should  hardly  have 
expected  so  much  susceptibility  in  such  matters  in  a  little  out-of- 
the-way  town  on  an  island  like  Martha's  Vineyard. 

When  we  came  away  I  felt  it  was  quite  a  friend  I  was  taking 
leave  of,  though  we  had  been  there  so  short  a  time,  so  good  and 
kind  did  we  find  her.  On  the  table  in  her  little  parlor,  instead  of 
the  horrid  novels  so  commonly  to  be  seen  in  America,  were  the 
"  Penny  Magazine,"  and  other  works  of  that  species. 

From  Martha's  Vineyard  we  went  to  Woodsville,  a  quiet  little 
village  by  the  sea.  I  had  promised  to  pay  a  visit  to  Mrs.  J.  Grin- 
nell,  at  the  residence  of  a  friend  of  hers,  situated  on  an  island  very 
near  this  place  (to  which  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  Grinnell  had  lately  gone 


64  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

from  New  Bedford),  We  were  at  a  very  nice  little  hotel,  indeed, 
at  Woodsville,  the  master  of  which  was  a  Mr.  Webster,  who  had 
called  one  of  his  sons  Daniel,  after  the  famous  statesman,  the 
pride  of  old  Massachusetts. 

At  this  hotel  there  was  an  admirable  specimen  of  an  American 
female  waiter  and  house-maid  ;  in  short,  a  domestic  factotum. 
She  was  excessively  civil,  obliging,  active,  and  attentive,  not  in 
the  slightest  degree  forward  or  intrusive,  always  willing  to  do 
whatever  one  required  of  her.  Altogether  a  very  prepossessing 
personage  is  Mademoiselle  Caroline — not  the  famous  female 
equestrian  of  Paris,  but  the  excellent  and  accomplished  waitress 
and  chambermaid  at  Woodsville,  whom  I  beg  to  introduce  to  the 
reader,  and  to  immortality.  The  mistress  of  the  hotel  cooked  for 
us  herself,  and  she  was  quite  a  cordon-bleu,  I  assure  you.  Her 
chicken  pies  and  her  puddings  were  of  the  sublimest  description. 

The  morning  was  lovely,  the  sea  sparkling  with  a  myriad  lus- 
tres, the  air  of  Ausonian  clearness  and  purity,  when  we  went  to 
Naushon,  an  exquisite  little  island  (one  of  a  cluster  of  the  islands 
called  the  Elizabeth  Group).  We  started  in  a  small  boat 
manned  by  the  two  sons  of  our  host,  and  before  very  long  we 
entered  a  little  creek,  and  soon  landed  on  the  beautiful  shore  of 
fairy-like  Naushon.  (This  is  of  course  its  old  Indian  name,  and 
long  may  it  retain  it). 

We  found  Mr.  Grinnell  kindly  waiting  to  receive  us  and  drive 
us  to  the  island  palace  of  the  proprietor  of  Naushon,  for  to  Mr. 

S ,  the  whole  beauteous  island  belongs. — What  an  enviable 

possession  !  Though  not  given  to  pilfering  propensities,  I  should 

like  to  pick  Mr.  S 's  pocket  of  this  gem  !  We  started  in 

a  somewhat  sledge-like  vehicle,  a  la  flcche  (as  our  old  Belgian 
courier  Marcotte  used  to  say),  for  the  house,  and  soon  found  our- 
selves seated  in  a  large  cool  apartment  with  Mrs.  Grinnell,  and 
the  kindly  cordial  Lord  and  Lady  of  the  Isle,  whose  welcome  had 
much  of  unworldly  heartiness  about  it.  I  longed  to  explore  the 
beautiful  island,  and  when  I  did  so,  my  anticipations  were  not 
disappointed. 

Naushon  is  a  little  America  in  itself.  There  are  miniatures  of 
her  wild,  illimitable,  awful  old  forests — a  beautiful  little  diamond 
edition  of  her  wonderful  lakes,  a  fairy  representation  of  her  variety 
of  scenery,  a  page  torn  from  "her  ancient  Indian  associations  and 
remains.  There  too  are  her  customs,  her  manners,  her  spirit,  and 
character ;  in  short,  it  is  a  little  pocket  America  (and  enough  to 
make  the  chief  superintendent  of  any  police  himself  a  pick -pocket), 


THE  SINGLE  GRAVE.  65 

a  Liliputian  Western  World,  a  compressed  Columbia.  But  its 
trees  are  not  Liliputian,  they  are  magnificent. 

We  drove  under  a  varied  shade  for  a  long  time,  and  saw  lovely 
views  through  openings  in  the  woods.  At  last  after  tearing  and 
crackling  along  through  a  thick  growth  of  timber  and  underwood, 
we  emerged  upon  a  truly  magnificent  prospect.  We  were  on  a 
height,  and  on  either  side  were  lovely  woods,  valleys,  and  gentle 
eminences ;  and  in  front  the  glorious  Atlantic.  After  enjoying 
this  beauteous  view  for  some  time,  the  Lord  of  Naushon  took  us 
to  see  a  still,  secluded  part  of  the  forest,  where  in  the  midst  of  a 
sunny  clearing,  surrounded  by  partly  overshadowing  trees  in  the 
heart  of  that  sequestered  island,  embosomed  in  the  mighty  ocean, 
was  a  single  grave,  that  of  the  only  and  adored  son  of  our  amiable 
hosts  ;  indeed,  their  only  child.  Almost  close  to  this  simple  grave 

was  a  semi-circular  seat.  "  There  often,"  said  Mr.  S ,  "  we 

come  in  the  summer  time  and  spend  the  evening,  and  frequently 
bring  our  friends,  too,  with  us,  and  it  is  a  melancholy  happiness  to 
feel  he  is  near — almost,  as  it  were,  with  us." 

Here  we  all  remained  for  some  time  :  the  birds  were  singing, 
the  sea  so  calm  you  could  scarcely  just  then  at  that  distance  hear 
its  everlasting  resounding  voice.  You  might  look  through  the 
opening  in  the  woods,  up  and  up,  and  the  clear  cloudless  sky 
would  seem  almost  receding  from  your  gaze  (like  the  horizon 
when  you  are  advancing  toward  it),  yet  bluer  and  bluer,  brighter 
and  brighter.  All  was  beauty  and  enchantment !  and  there  lay 
the  lonely  dead — who  could  dare  to  say  in  unconsecrated  ground? 
where  Nature  was  so  wild  and  beautiful,  and  Nature's  Creator 
seemed  so  nigh — and  where  that  grand  untrodden  ground  with 
nothing  to  desecrate  it,  was  ever  bathed  by  the  tears  of  hallowed 
parental  affection  ?  How  blessed  and  sacred  it  appeared  !  To 
think,  in  contrast  with  this  grave,  of  our  dead  in  crowded  city 
church-yards !  But  I  trust  that  unutterably  detestable  system 
will  soon  be  done  away  with. 

If  what  1  have  related  seems  strange  to  you,  you  must  recollect 
that  in  America  it  is  often  the  case ;  at  least,  I  have  frequently 
_ heard  so  before  I  came  here.  In  the  quiet  garden,  or  in  the  wood 
near  the  house,  often  sleep  in  their  last  slumber  the  beloved  mem- 
bers of  the  family,  not  banished  from  the  every-day  associations 
of  the  survivors,  and  almost  seeming"  to  have  still  some  participa- 
tion in  their  feelings,  in  their  woes,  and  their  pleasures.  I  co^d 
almost  fancy,  after  seeing  that  Eden  for  the  dead,  Mount  Auburn, 
and  remembering  this  affectionate  custom,  that  is  one  reason  why 


66  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

-* 

death  does  not  seem  a  thing  to  be  dreaded  or  deplored  in  America, 
as  with  us.  If  I  recollect  correctly,  the  only  words  on  the  mod- 
est head-stone  were,  "  To  our  beloved  Son." 

After  willingly  remaining  some  time  here,  beside  this  simple 
Christian  tomb,  we  went  to  see  an  ancient  place  of  Indian  sepul- 
ture. The  corpses,  I  believe,  had  mostly  been  dug  up — poor 

Indians ;  hardly  allowed  to  rest  in  their  graves !  Mrs.  S 

told  me  that  the  first  time  Naushon  had  passed  into  white  men's 
hands  from  those  of  the  red  chief  s,  this  exquisite  island,  with  all 
its  lovely  and  splendid  woods,  its  herds  of  wild  deer,  and  all  its 
fair  lands,  it  had  been  sold  for  an  old  coat.  (I  think  a  little  fire- 
water must  have  entered  into  the  bargain).  After  hearing  this, 
I  began  to  think  feu  squire  and  squaw  Naushon  of  the  olden  time 
and  their  clan  hardly  deserved  to  rest  in  their  graves. 

Our  excellent  hosts  most  kindly  pressed  us  to  stay  at  Naushon, 
but  my  plans  did  not  admit  of  this  ;  so,  enchanted  with  their  de- 
lectable island,  and  full  of  gratitude  for  all  their  cordial  friendli- 
ness and  truly  American  hospitality  toward  us,  we  took  leave  of 
them  and  Mrs.  Grinnell,  in  the  evening,  and  returned  to  the  main 
land.  The  weather  became  very  unpropitious,  and  it  blew  and 
rained  heavily.  However,  we  arrived  in  damp  safety  at  our  hotel. 

I  will  venture  to  give  some  verses  which  I  wrote  for  an  album 
at  Naushon,  begging  the  reader  not  to  be  severe  in  his  criticisms ; 
for  constantly  traveling,  as  I  have  lately  been,  is  not  favorable  to 
verse  manufacturing. 

NAUSHON. 

If  falling  stars  were  truly  what  they  seem, 

The  glittering  regions  of  a  magic  dream, 

Then  might  we  fancy  this  enchanted  isle 

(Where  such  bright,  varying  beauties  gleam  and  smile), 

Were  even  an  after-gift,  in  mercy  sent, 

Straight  from  yon  golden-fretted  firmament ; 

Rapt  from  those  lustrous  paths,  to  vision  bared, 

A  down-dropped  star  from  yon  grand  circle  spared; 

Fallen  in  a  gracious  moment  from  the  sky, 

To  charm  to  rapture  man's  earth-wearied  eye, 

From  harsher  haunts  and  sceneries  to  beguile, 

To  almost  Eden's  loss  to  reconcile. 

A  home  for  world-sick  angel-hearts  to  be, 

A  wilder,  freer  Paradise  at  sea; 

Hung,  gem-like,  where  to  stormless  deeps  are  given 

The  best  reflections  of  its  parent  heaven  ! 

The  loveliest  likeness  that  this  planet  wears, 

Of  kindred  glories — sister  stars  and  spheres  ! 


VERSES  ON  NAUSHON.  67 


But  since  'tis  not  so,  let  me  hope,  at  least — 
Kind  new-made  friends,  by  its  possession  blest — 
That  while  no  fallen-star  hath  spread  for  you 
A  bowered  Elysium  midst  these  waves  of  blue, 
Your  hearts,  your  hopes,  your  virtues  yet  will  make 
This  radiant  island,  for  your  own  bright  sake, 
A  rising-star  in  guardian-angels'  eyes, 
That,  better-seeing,  watch  the  heavenward  rise, 
The  unceasing  soul-flight  of  its  human  guests, 
Far,  far  beyond  where  sun  or  system  rests 
(Till  they,  and  thou,  in  their  remembering  thought 
Fair  isle !  to  faith's  own  glorious  goal  are  brought). 

Ah,  yes,  a  mounting  world,  be  this  hushed  spot, 
Where  th'  earthlier  globe's  vain  mockeries  are  forgot, 
A  star  of  rising  heaven-bound  souls,  that  feel, 
'Midst  such  rare  scenes,  fresh  hopes,  fresh  trusts  and  zeal, 
And,  looking  on  this  lustrous  realm  below — 
In  morn's  creation-burst,  or  sunset's  glow — 
This  little  heaven  of  beauty,  peace,  and  love, 
Who  could  forget  the  kindred  heaven  above  ? 

Though,  in  thyself,  fair  isle !  thou  mayst  not  soar 
To  be  their  bower  of  bliss  for  evermore, 
Nor  midst  the  unfading  realms  of  splendor  shine, 
And  hallowed  fields,  and  mansions,  all  divine ; 
Thy  deathless  dwellers  there  may  cherish  yet 
(Where  worlds  ne'er  sink,  nor  suns  of  glory  set), 
Thy  precious  memory's  truth,  in  ages  bright, 
That  through  eternity  shall  speed  their  flight. 
Thus  thou  mayst  find  thy  changeless  home  within. 
The  unbounded  soul  released  from  earth  and  sin, 
As  now  within  the  unbounded  sea,  that  smiles 
Round  thee,  like  molten  skies,  sweet  isle  of  isles ! 


CHAPTER   XII. 

The  Blind  Asylum  at  Boston,  and  Laura  Bridgeman — New  Haven,  the 
"  City  of  Elms" — Yale  College— Its  Objects  of  Science  and  Art — Profes- 
sor Silliman,  Jun. — Governor  Yale — His  Epitaph — His  EnglishConnections 
— Black  domestic  Servants — Two  Opinions  of  them — A  sable  Count 
D'Orsay — The  American  Character — Scenery  about  New  Haven — Katy- 
dids, Tree-frogs,  and  Crickets — Connecticut  Yankees. 

I  HAD  been  very  anxious  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  Blind  Asylum  and 
Laura  Bridgeman,  at  Boston.  Perhaps  the  reader  will  remember 
the  very  interesting  account  given  of  poor  Laura  by  Mr.  Dickens, 
in  his  work  on  America,  and  Dr.  Howe's  wonderful  and  successful 
mode  of  teaching  her.  She  is  blind,  and  deaf,  and  dumb,  and  has 
hardly  any  sense  of  smell  or  taste. 

They  told  us  at  the  Asylum  that  if  they  gave  her  strong  Cayenne 
pepper,  or  any  thing  equally  pungent,  she  would  appear  to  taste  it 
slightly,  but  nothing  less  powerful. 

After  Mr.  Dickens's  excellent  and  elaborate  description,  I  need 
only  say  say  that  we  found  Laura  apparently  well  and  contented, 
though  she  is  slight  and  delicate-looking,  and  has  a  rather  pensive, 
serious  expression  of  countenance.  A  lady,  who  we  understood 
was  a  governess,  especially  devoted  to  her,  told  us  Laura  Bridge- 
man  had  enjoyed  a  late  visit  into  the  country  much  ;  and  though 
she  could  neither  see  the  views,  nor  hear  the  merry  song  of  birds, 
nor  smell  the  sweet  odor  of  flowers,  yet  she  appeared  to  inhale  the 
freshness  of  the  free  air  with  delight.  She  added  that  Laura  was 
now  learning  geometry,  and  that  she  took  very  deep  interest  in  it, 
and  made  great  and  rapid  progress.  Is  not  this  wonderful  ? 

When  we  first  entered,  the  teacher  was  holding  an  open  letter 
in  one  hand,  while  with  the  other  she  was  repeating  the  contents 
of  it  to  the  poor  girl,  by  telling  it  very  rapidly  on  the  fingers  of 
Laura's  lifted  hand.  This  was  a  letter  from  her  country  friends, 
and  it  was  extraordinary  to  observe  each  eloquent  change  of  ex- 
pression that  passed  over  Laura's  intelligent  and  most  speaking 
face.  Wonder,  pleasure — sometimes  a  slight  shade  of  vexation  and 
disappointment — regret,  affection,  mirth,  sympathy,  doubt,  anxiety, 
hope,  expectation  ;  all  seemed  to  impress  themselves  by  turns  on 
the  voiceless  and  sightless  one's  features.  I  could  almost  read  the 
letter  on  Laura's  eloquent  face,  which  those  mute  signs,  quick  as 
lightning,  were  conveying  to  her  mind  ! 


"CITY  OF  ELMS."  69 


I  might  well  have  been  reminded  of  the  illumined  alabaster  vase 
to  which  some  one  imaginatively  compared  a  celebrated  poet's 
countenance,  for  really  Laura's  face  appeared  almost  like  a  crystal 
one,  and  the  mighty  mystery  of  mind  seemed  peering  through  the 
transparent  casket.  I  do  not  think  I  ever  saw  any  features  that 
had  a  voice  to  help  them,  or  eyes  to  look  with,  speak  so  impress- 
ively with  their  varied  changes.  All  her  features  and  movements 
seemed  forced  by  her  active  mind  to  act  as  voice,  tongue,  and  eyes. 
When  we  first  entered  the  Asylum,  the  blind  children  were  sing- 
ing, in  a  sort  of  music-hall,  furnished  with  a  good  organ.  What 
a  pleasure  must  this  be  to  these  poor  bereaved  beings !  Their 
voices  sounded  very  sweet  and  solemn,  and  they  had  evidently  been 
carefully  taught. 

The  Institution  for  the  Blind  is  admirably  situated,  on  open  and 
elevated  ground,  and  commands  a  noble  and  splendid  prospect  of 
the  island-studded  harbor,  the  city  and  circumjacent  country :.  its 
lofty  position,  and  the  pure  air  that  circulates  around  it,  are,  no 
doubt,  highly  conducive  to  the  health  of  the  pupils.  But  how 
mournful  to  think,  on  looking  out  of  the  vast  opened  windows  of 
the  establishment,  that  all  this  beauty  and  glory  can  shine  not  to 
those  poor  benighted  eyes ! 

New  Haven  is  lovely  ;  but  I  must  explain  to  what  it  owes 
its  principal  charm  :  it  is  to  the  exceeding  profusion  of  its  stately 
elms,  which  render  it  not  only  one  of  the  most  charming  but  one 
of  the  most  "  unique"  cities  I  ever  beheld.  From  the  trees  it  is 
called  the  "  City  of  Elms,"  and  it  may  be  imagined  how  delight- 
ful a  place  of  residence  they  must  make  it  in  the  heat  of  an  Amer- 
ican summer.  Even  now  we  find  their  shade  very  welcome  ;  and 
wherever  we  go,  in  street  or  suburb,  we  see  these  umbrageous 
trees — in  short,  I  think,  there  are  multitudinous  avenues  of  them. 

We  lately  paid  a  very  interesting  visit  to  the  college  library, 
with  a  lady  to  whom  I  had  a  letter,  and  who  has  been  most 
friendly  and  kind  since  our  stay  here.  In  this  city  is  Yale  College, 
which  is  said  to  have  a  greater  number  of  students  than  any  other 
college  in  the  United  States.  Yale  College  was  founded  at  Kill- 
ingworth  in  1701,  and  subsequently  established  at  Ne\*  Haven 
in  1717.  There  are  several  college-halls,  about  one  hundred,  and 
four  feet  long  by  forty  feet  wide  and  four  stories  high  ;  a  hall  for 
theological  student*,  a  chapel,  the  Lyceum,  and  the  Athenaeum. 
Behind  the  main  building  is  another  range  which  contains  a  build- 
ing devoted  to  an  interesting  collection  of  paintings  by  Col.  Trum- 
bull ;  a  chemical  laboratory,  and  the  Commons'  Hall,  which  has 


70  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

in  its  second  story  a  fine  mineralogical  cabinet,  supposed  to  be  by 
far  the  most  complete  in  the  United  States.  Buildings  devoted  to 
the  law  and  medical  departments  are  hard  by.  We  saw  in  the 
library  a  likeness  of  poor  Major  Andre,  drawn  by  himself,  just 
before  his  execution,  and  a  lock  of  his  hair. 

I  was  particularly  interested  in  my  visit  to  the  cabinet  of  min- 
erals. They  boast  that  they  have  some  specimens  far  superior  to 
any  corresponding  ones  in  the  British  Museum,  but  this  is  a  knotty 
point  which  I  am  not  at  all  competent  to  decide.  The  specimens 
of  meteoric  iron  struck  me  certainly  as  extraordinarily  fine  :  one 
piece  was  truly  enormous,  and  if  the  theory  of  some  natural  phi- 
losophers respecting  their  lunar  origin  be  correct,  it  seems  almost 
frightful  to  think  of  such  an  iron  rock  being  lanched  at  us  from 
such  a  distance !  We  had  better  take  care  and  keep  on  good 
terms  with  the  moon,  if  she  can  bombard  us  thus.  One  can  hardly 
help  wondering,  when  gazing  on  that  huge  projectile,  how  so  many 
poets  and  poetasters  have  escaped  her  vengeance,  making  her,  as 
they  do,  the  target  for  their  rhyming  arrows,  without  mercy  or 
compunction.  Long  suffering  must  the  "  Casta  Diva"  be  indeed ! 

Besides  my  letter  to  Mrs.  W ,  I  had  one  for  Mrs.  D . 

They  both  appear  highly-accomplished  and  agreeable  persons,  and 
are  nearly  related  to  wealthy  planters  in  the  South.  Owing  to 

Mrs.  D being  absent  from  New  Haven  during  the  greater 

part  of  the  time  we  were  there,  I  saw  the  more  of  Mrs.  W 

and  her  daughter :  I  found  them  most  particularly  pleasing  and 
amiable.  It  was  with  them  we  went  to  the  colleges,  the  library 
and  mineralogical  cabinet.  We  had  the  advantage  of  meeting 
Professor  Silliman,  Jun.,  at  the  latter,  who  was  kind  enough  to  ac- 
company us  round,  and  his  elucidatory  observations  rendered  our 
visit  far  more  attractive  and  interesting  than  it  would  otherwise 
have  been. 

The  chief  benefactor  of  the  college,  Governor  Yale  (from  whom 
the  institution  received  its  name),  died  July  8,  1721.  Here  is  the 
old  gentleman's  epitaph  (in  the  church-yard  at  Wrexham) : 

"  Under  this  tomb  lyes  interred  ELIHU  YALE,  of  Place  Gronow,  Esq. 
Born  5th  April,  1648,  and  dyed  the  8th  of  July,  1721,  aged  seventy-three 
years. 

"  Born  in  America,  in  Europe  bred, 
In  Afric  traveled,  and  in  Asia  wed, 
Where  long  he  lived  and  thrived ;  at  London  dead. 
Much  good,  some  ill  he  did ;  so  hope  all's  even, 
And  that  his  soul  through  Mercy's  gone  to  Heaven. 


YALE  COLLEGE.  71 


You  that  survive  and  read,  take  care, 
For  this  most  certain  exit  to  prepare ; 
For  only  the  actions  of  the  Just 
Smell  sweet,  and  blossom  in  the  dust." 

The  last  two  lines  are  a  naughty  plagiarism  from  old  Shirley, 
and  poor  Charles  Lamb  would  have  taken,  perhaps,  offense  at  the 
previous  two.  Touching  the  plagiarism,  it  is  more  pardonable 
than  the  almost  parody  I  once  saw  in  a  country  church-yard  in 
England,  on  Lord  Byron's  fine  lines, 

"  Bright  be  the  place  of  thy  soul,"  &c. 
The  line— 

"  On  earth  she  was  all  but  divine," 

was  thus  rendered : 

"  On  earth  she  was  all  we  could  wish." 

The  rhyme  was  unmercifully  sacrificed ;  not  even  did  they  deign 
to  press  an  extraneous  line,  slightly  altered  into  the  service,  and 
say — 

"  And  the  spoon  ran  away  with  the  dish." 

I  return  to  old  Governor  Yale.*  One  of  his  daughters  married 
a  son  of  the  then  Duke  of  Devonshire ;  another,  a  grandson  of 
the  Earl  of  Guildford.  It  was  he  of  whom  Collins  says  in  his 
"  Peerage  of  England  :" — "  he  brought  such  quantities  of  goods 
from  India  that,  finding  no  house  large  enough  to  stow  them  in, 
he  had  a  public  sale  of  the  overplus,  and  that  was  the  first  auction 
in  England." 

Yale  College  was  instituted  when  Connecticut  was  in  its  in*"-  .' 
cy,  and  has  exerted  a  powerful  influence  over  its  literary., 
social,  and  religious  character.     A  new  department  was  et. 
ed  in  the  college  in  1847,  called  the  Department  of  Phiiv 
and  the  Arts.     The  gentleman  I  have  mentioned,  Professor 
man,  Jun.,  instructs  in  elementary  and  analytical  chemistry,  min- 
eralogy, and  metallurgy. 

I  was  talking,  the  other  day,  to  Mrs.  W and  her  daughter 

of  the  capabilities  of  the  black  people  for  making  good  domestic 
servants,  and  remarking  how  very  civil,  attentive,  and  intelligent 
we  had  uniformly  found  the  black  waiters  and  attendants  we  had 

*  On  the  monument  to  Governor  Eaton  is  a  quaint  inscription.     He  was 
buried  here,  with  his  son-in-law  and  daughter  near  him.     It  thus  concludes  : 
"  T"  attend  you,  sir,  under  these  framed  stones, 
Are  come  your  honored  son  and  daughter  Jones, 
On  each  hand  to  repose  their  wearied  bones." 


72  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

occasionally  encountered.  I  was  surprised  to  hear  them  condemn 
them  unconditionally,  and  declare  they  carefully  avoided  having 
any  of  them  in  their  house ;  speaking  in  no  measured  terms  of 
their  having  many  uneradicably  bad  habits.  How  different  from 
Mr.  Webster's  expressed  opinion  concerning  them  !  But  it  is  very 
natural  that  they  should,  from  their  Carolinian  antecedents,  be 
disposed  not  to  judge  the  colored  race  with  much  impartiality ; 
and  it  is  certainly  probable  that,  after  being  accustomed  to  them 
as  slaves,  they  would  be  likely  to  be  a  little  impatient  of  them  as 
servants.  Altogether,  I  can  easily  imagine  the  household  arrange- 
ments, under  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  not  being  conducted 
very  harmoniously  or  satisfactorily  to  either  party. 

The  old  black  waiter  who  attends  on  us  here  is  an  admirable 
specimen  of  his  class.  He  is  invaluable  to  the  master  of  the  es- 
tablishment, and  I  find  he  is  constantly  spoken  of  by  the  white 
servants,  quite  respectfully,  as  "  Mr.  Williams."  He  speaks  par- 
ticularly good  English,  without  any  twang,  and  has  the  manners 
of  a  quiet,  highly-respectable  English  butler. 

We  saw  one  very  curious  specimen  of  a  dandy  among  his  fellow- 
colorists,  lounging  down  the  street.  He  was  a  sable  Count  d'Or- 
say.  His  toilet  was  the  most  elaborately  recherche  you  can 
imagine.  He  seemed  intensely  and  harmlessly  happy  in  his  coat 
and  waistcoat,  of  the  finest  possible  materials ;  and  the  careful 
carelessness  of  the  adjustment  of  the  wool  and  hat  was  not  readily 
to  be  surpassed. 

The  more  I  see  of  American  society,  the  more  I  like  it.  In 
aianeral,  I  should  say,  they  are  a  peculiarly  sensitive  people,  and 
yet  very  forbearing  and  not  easily  offended.  They  are  generally 
accused  of  being  conceited.  I  can  only  say,  as  far  as  I  have  seen, 
th^.i  candor  appears  to  be  far  more  remarkable  than  their  conceit. 
Indeed,  I  have  perpetually  found  them  volunteer  remarks  on  what 
they  consider  defects  in  their  manners  and  customs,  with  the  great- 
est possible  good-humor  and  ingenuousness.  Nay,  I  have  some- 
times, in  common  honesty,  found  myself  compelled  to  take  their  part 
against  themselves.  In  traveling,  their  courtesy,  their  good-temper, 
their  obligingness,  their  utter  unselfishness,  are  beyond  all  praise. 

This  town  is  delightfully  situated.  It  is  built  round  the  head 
of  the  bay,  and  is  partly  skirted  by  an  amphitheatre  of  hills,  of 
which  two,  at  their  termination,  present  steep  bluffs,  which  rise, 
indeed,  almost  perpendicularly  to  the  height  of  three  hundred  and 
seventy  feet.  The  population  is  about  20,500.  We  have  had 
several  charming  drives  with  Mrs.  and  Miss  W .  The  coun- 


CONNECTICUT  YANKEES.  73 

try  surrounding  New  Haven,  is  very  picturesque  and  fine,  and 
these  bluffs  look  very  imposing.  They  took  us  to  see  some  ex- 
ceedingly nice  country  houses,  with  grounds  well  laid  out.  Their 

own  mansion  was  a  very  pretty  one  (as  was  also  Mrs.  D 's), 

completely  emhowered  in  trees,  except  on  one  side,  where  there 
was  a  beautiful  garden. 

The  noise  the  katydids,  tree-frogs,  and  crickets  make  at  New 
Haven,  is  inconceivable — almost  enough  to  interrupt  the  students 
at  their  labors.  The  former  repeat  very  plainly  the  sound  that 
gives  them  their  name,  in  a  most  positive  and  authoritative  man- 
ner ;  and,  after  a  little  time,  you  will  hear  others  apparently  re- 
plying, "  Katy-didn't."  Of  course  the  prodigious  number  of  these 
insects  at  New  Haven  arises  from  the  multitude  of  trees. 

The  Americans,  I  find,  call  the  New  Englanders  Yankees  in. 
general ;  though,  I  believe,  the  meaning  of  the  term  varies  accord- 
ing to  the  section  of  country  you  happen  to  be  in.  They  tell  me 
that  almost  all  the  Americans  met  with  abroad,  especially  those 
who  venture  into  remote  localities,  such  as  India,  China,  Austra- 
lia, Polynesia,  and  other  distant  regions,  are  Yankees,  i.e.,  New 
Englanders;  and  that  of  "these,  by  far  the  greater  part  are  the 
enterprising,  active,  indefatigable,  Connecticut  Yankees.  It  is 
said,  if  you  ask  a  Connecticut  Yankee,  in  any  part  of  the  world, 
how  he  is,  he  will,  if  not  "  sick,"  answer  "  moving,  sir,"  equivalent 
to  saying  "  well ;"  for,  if  well,  he  is  sure  to  be  on  the  move. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

Bridgeport — The  Irish  Housemaid — Ultra-Republicans  even  in  America—- 
The Great  Croton  Aqueduct  described — Supply  of  Water  to  New  York — 
New  York  Trotters — Delmonico's  Hotel — Excursion  with  American 
Friends — Glorious  Scenery  of  Staten  Island — Greenwood  Cemetery — 
Its  Extent,  Scenery  and  Monuments — Miss  Lynch  the  Poetess  and  Fred- 
rika  Brcmer. 

IN  coming  here  (to  Delmonico's  Hotel,  New  York),  on  the  14th 
October,  from  New  Haven,  we  stopped  at  Bridgeport,  at  a  rather 
indifferent  hotel — that  is  to  say,  compared  with  the  generality  of 
the  hotels  in  the  United  States.  I  believe  it  is  near  that  town 
that  the  well-known  Mr.  Barnum,  of  Tom  Thumb  and  "  woolly 
horse"  notoriety,  has  his  abode — his  splendid  abode,  I  fancy  I  may 
say,  if  the  accounts  generally  given  of  it  are  correct. 

D 


74  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

We  did  not  see  Bridgeport  to  advantage,  as  it  rained  a  good 

deal  while  we  were  there.     Both  V and  I  were  quite  sorry  to 

leave  the  city  of  Elms,  and  our  very  kind  friends  Mrs.  and  Miss 

W ,  and  Mrs.  D ,  who  had  made  our  sojourn  there  so 

singularly  agreeable.  I  should  think  Bridgeport  is  a  pretty  place 
when  you  can  see  it,  which  we  could  scarcely  do  for  the  cascade- 
like  rain  during  our  short  stay. 

There  was  a  poor  Irish  housemaid  there  who  touched  our  feel- 
ings extremely  :  we  had  watched  her  with  compassion  in  the 
pouring  rain  milking  the  cows,  her  gown-skirt  over  her  head, 
crouched  in  the  wet  grass.  When  she  came  in  with  our  tea  we 
asked  her  some  questions  about  her  leaving  Ireland,  and  she  ap- 
peared delighted  to  talk  about  the  "ould  country  ;"  ill  off  as  she 
had  been  there.  She  seemed  to  think  it  the  most  beauteous  and 
charming  place  on  the  face  of  the  globe.  Eveiy  time  we  saw  her 
after  that,  we  had  a  little  talk  about  "  the  fair  Emerald  Isle ;" 
and  on  our  coming  away,  when  I  gave  her  a  little  gratuity,  she 
fairly  burst  into  tears  and  thanked  me  most  heartily  ;  but,  I  verily 
believe,  more  for  talking  to  her  about  beautiful  "ould  Ireland," 
and  displaying  interest  in  her  simple  history,  than  for  the  trifle  I 
presented  her  with.  She  sobbed  out  as  we  took  leave,  "  Och  sure, 
my  heart  warmed  toward  ye  from  the  first,  when  I  found  ye  was 
from  the  ould  countries, .'"  thus  cordially  uniting  together  the  land 
of  the  Saxon  with  her  own  far-off  Erin. 

I  have  been  reading  some  extracts  from  late  American  news- 
papers, which  I  inclose,  concerning  the  tariff.  It  is  easily  to  be 
seen  that  there  are  radicals  and  ultra-republicans  in  the  United 
States  as  well  as  elsewhere,  which  I  think  is  scarcely  well  known, 
to  politicians  in  England.  What  intemperance  of  language 
there  is  in  these  extracts !  To  judge  by  the  meeting  described, 
they  seem  just  as  violent  as  the  malcontents  of  Europe,  and  fully 
as  discontented  with  their  government  ;  but  if  they  ever  did  more 
,than  talk  here,  they  would  find  no  merciful  Louis  the  Sixteenths, 
or  Charles  the  Tenths,  or  hesitating,  compromising,  concession- 
making  Louis-Philippes  :  the  executive  would  deal  with  them  at 
once  with  determination,  promptitude,  and  just  whatever  amount 
of  severity  might  be  deemed  necessary. 

I  have  found  those  kindest  of  friends,  Mrs.  Barclay  and  Mrs. 
W.  Barclay  here.  Mrs.  Barclay  most  kindly  invited  me  to  spend 
the  winter  with  them  in  Georgia,  but  as  I  wished  extremely  to 
go  down  the  Mississippi  to  New  Orleans,  I,  with  great  reluctance, 
declined  their  truly  friendly  proposal.  Wo  went  with  them  one 


THE  CROTON  AQUEDUCT.  75 

day  to  see  the  High  Bridge  of  the  great  Croton  Aqueduct.  It  is 
vefy  magnificent  indeed.  This  bridge  crosses  Harlem  River  and  is 
made  of  stone  :  it  is  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long, 
with  fourteen  piers,  eight  of  which  bear  arches  of  eighty  feet  span, 
and  seven  others  of  fifty  feet  span,  one  hundred  and  fourteen  feet 
above  tide  water  at  the  top.  It  has  cost  about  nine  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  The  whole  cost  of  the  aqueduct  will  be  about 
fourteen  million  dollars. 

"  The  aqueduct  commences  about  five  miles  from  the  Hudson," 
says  '  Appleton's  Railroad  Companion,'  "  about  forty  miles  from 
the  City  Hall.  The  dam,  which  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long, 
seventy  feet  wide  at  the  bottom  and  seven  at  the  top,  and  forty 
feet  high,  is  built  of  stone  and  cement.  A  pond  five  miles  in  length 
is  created  by  the  dam,  covering  a  surface  of  four  hundred  acres, 
and  containing  five  hundred  million  gallons  of  water.  From  the 
dam  the  aqueduct  proceeds,  sometimes  tunneling  through  solid 
rocks,  crossing  valleys  by  embankments  and  brooks  by  culverts, 
until  it  reaches  Harlem  River.  It  is  built  of  stone,  brick,  and  ce- 
ment, arched  over  and  under  ;  is  six  feet  three  inches  wide  at  the 
bottom,  seven  feet  eight  inches  wide  at  the  side  walls,  and  eight 
feet  five  inches  high ;  it  has  a  descent  of  thirteen  inches  and  a 
quarter  per  mile,  and  will  discharge  sixty  millions  of  gallons  in 
twenty-four  hours." 

Then  follows  a  description  of  the  High  Bridge,  and  it  goes  on  to 
say :  "  The  receiving  reservoir  is  at  Eighty-sixth-street  and  Sixth- 
Avenue,  covering  thirty-five  acres,  and  containing  one  hundred  and 
fifty  million  gallons  of  water.  There  is  now  no  city  in  the  world 
better  supplied  with  pure  and  wholesome  water  than  New  York,  and 
the  supply  would  be  abundant  if  the  population  were  five  times  its 
present  number."  Another  account  I  have  seen  proceeds  to  say, 
that  the  distributing  reservoir  on  Murray's-hill,  in  Fortieth-street, 
covers  about  four  acres,  and  is  constructed  of  stone  and  cement, 
raised  forty-five  feet  above  the  street,  and  contains  twenty  millions  of 
gallons.  The  water  is  thence  distributed  over  the  city  in  iron  pipes, 
laid  sufficiently  deep  under  ground  so  as  to  be  secure  from  frost. 

As  we  returned  from  the  "High  Bridge,"  we  were  passed  by 
some  of  the  famous  New  York  trotters,  who  flew  by  at  a  most  won- 
derful pace,  drawing  after  them  almost  invisible  little  light  vehicles. 

Delmonico's  is  a  most  excellent  hotel,  admirably  conducted  ;  it 
has  all  sorts  of  comforts  and  conveniences  ;  charming  apartments, 
delightful  baths  of  all  kinds,  and  during  the  whole  day  a  number 
of  extremely  good  carriages  for  hire  by  the  hour,  or  just  as  you 


TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 


choose,  are  drawn  up  before  the  door.  In  addition  to  this,  the  at- 
tendance is  remarkably  good. 

We  dined  at  Mr.  H.  Grinnell's,*  the  other  evening  (to  whom  I 

had  letters  from  Mr.  C )  :  he  is  brother  of  Mr.  J.  Grinnell, 

at  whose  hospitable  house  we  were  staying  at  New  Bedford.  I 
like  Mrs.  H.  Grinnell  exceedingly,  and  her  daughter  seems  a  most 
thoroughly  well-educated  and  accomplished  young  lady.  Mr.  Grin- 
nel)  showed  us  some  specimens  of  Californian  gold  that  looked  re- 
markably pure.  Their  drawing-rooms  were  adorned  with  some 
beautiful  Italian  paintings. 

I  have  just  returned  from  an  agreeable  little  excursion  to  Staten 
Island,  to  dine  and  sleep  at  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cunard's  enchanting 
villa  in  this  beautiful  locality.  No  words  can  describe  the  mag- 
nificence of  American  autumnal  coloring.  When  the  sun  rose  on 
the  rainbow-tinted  woods  of  the  island  in  the  morning,  what  a 
glorious  blazing  world  we  beheld !  The  scenery  of  Staten  Island 
is  superb,  and  riot  only  is  that  well  worthy  of  admiration,  but  its 
situation  commands  a  glorious  view  of  the  Bay  of  New  York, 
Long  Island,  &c. 

We  had,  indeed,  a  delightful  visit,  though  from  my  stupidly  mis- 
understanding what  Mr.  Cunard  said,  I  thought  it  was  limited  to  a 
dinner  invitation,  and  consequently,  we  arrived  at  the  house,  maid- 
less,  trunkless,  and  carpet-bag-less.  Light  was  soon  thrown  upon 
the  mistake  ;  but  we  found  though  we  had  not  burned  our  ships, 
yet  that  no  mode  of  retreat  was  open  to  us,  for  the  last  steamer 
for  New  York  had  already  departed.  However,  Mrs.  Cunard  most 
kindly  supplied  us  with  all  possible  paraphernalia  and  caparisons 
and  appointments,  and  we  passed  a  charming  evening  listening  to 
the  beautiful  instrumental  music,  with  which  Mrs.  Cunard,  who 
is  an  admirable  performer,  entertained  us  delightfully. 

I  must  now  give  a  brief  account  of  Greenwood  Cemetery,  which 
we  visited  the  other  day  in  company  with  Mr.  and  Miss  Grinnell, 
who  obligingly  insisted  on  taking  us  there,  and  showing  us  the 
place.  It  is  in  the  south  part  of  Brooklyn,  about  three  miles  from 
Fulton  Ferry  (you  may  also  go  to  Greenwood  by  the  new  ferry,  at 
Whitehall,  which  lands  you  in  the  vicinity  of  the  cemetery  on  a 
very  long  pier).  Greenwood  contains  two  hundred  and  forty-two 
acres,  of  which  a  great  part  is  beautifully  covered  with  woods  of 
a  natural  growth  ;  and  I  think  the  surprisingly  brilliant  colors  of 
autumn  are  more  striking  and  exquisite  here  than  those  at  Staten 

*  This  is  the  gentleman  who  subscribed  so  munificently  to  the  American 
expedition  in  search  of  Sir  John  Franklin. 


GREENWOOD  CEMETERY.  77 

Island,  or  New  Haven,  or  in  the  country  before  we  came  to  New 
York.  These  were  perfectly  extraordinary — the  most  dazzling 
scarlet,  the  most  golden  and  vivid  yellows  and  Tyrian  purples,  and 
rich,  deep,  velvet-like  crimsons,  and  delicate  pale  primrose-tints, 
and  soft  surviving  greens,  and  rose-hues,  such  as  flush  the  lips  of 
Indian  shells — all  cast  their  sumptuous  shadowings  over  the  quiet 
graves,  like  the  reflections  from  richly-painted  windows,  "  blushing 
with  the  blood  of  kings  and  queens,"  in  some  mighty  old  cathedral. 
The  views  from  the  heights  of  the  cemetery  were  sublime.  I  ad- 
mired the  one  from  Ocean  Hill  the  most.  There  is  a  lovely  va- 
riety of  valleys,  elevations,  plains,  groves,  and  glades,  and  paths. 
When  will  London  have  any  thing  even  approaching  to  this  magnifi- 
cent cemetery  ?  The  ocean  rolling  and  moaning,  with  its  fine  mel- 
ancholy, organ- like  sounds,  so  near,  like  a  mighty  mourner,  she  can 
not  have,  nor  the  gorgeous  pall  cast  over  the  tombs  by  a  Western 
autumn  ;  but  all  the  rest  she  could  have,  and  yet  has  not. 

The  cemetery  is  traversed  by  many  winding  paths  and  avenues, 
all  beautiful  and  solemn.  Some  of  the  monuments  are  interesting. 
There  is  one  to  an  Iowa  Indian  Princess,  named  Dohumme ;  an- 
other handsome  one  to  a  young  lady  who  was  killed  while  return- 
ing from  a  ball.  There  is  one  thing  which  I  did  not  quite  like, 
and  yet  it  is  not  only  useful,  but  necessary,  and  that  is,  having 
"  Guide  Boards"  given  to  visitors,  to  direct  them  in  these  solemn 
labyrinths.  We  were  told  that,  but  for  this  precaution,  many  per- 
sons would  probably  lose  themselves  in  the  Cemetery ;  still,  there 
is  something  not  in  keeping  with  all  the  rest  in  these  melancholy, 
methodical  maps  ;  but  that  is  only  fanciful. 

We  met,  a  short  time  since,  at  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Willis's,  Miss 
Lynch,  the  poetess ;  she  is  expecting  Miss  Fredrika  Bremer  to  pay 
her  a  visit  shortly.  Miss  Bremer's  works  are  very  much  liked  in 
the  States.  1  believe  she  is  going  to  remain  in  America  some 
time.  Miss  Lynch,  who  has  kindly  sent  me  a  delightful  volume 
of  her  poems,  reminded  me  a  little  of  our  poor  L.  E.  L.  in  her 
manner  and  conversation. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Philadelphia — Incessant  Uproar  in  that  City — its  Custom  House  and  Ceme- 
teries— Baltimore — Battle  and  Washington  Monuments — The  Catholic 
Cathedral — The  Merchants'  Shot  Tower — Its  Trade  and  Commerce — Its 
Increase  and  Population — Baltimore  Clippers — Barnum's  Hotel — Sensi- 
.-  tiveness  of  Americans  to  Cold — The  Deaf  Gentleman  and  His  Stentorian 
Friend — Anthracite  Coal  Fires. 

WE  came  to  Baltimore,  via  Philadelphia ;  and  though  I  very 
much  admired  the  regularity  of  the  Iron  City's  streets,  and  the 
beauty  of  many  of  the  principal  buildings,  its  profusion  of  white 
marble,  and  its  perfection  of  cleanliness,  I  was  glad  to  escape  from 
its  unearthly  nightly  noises,  and  the  wars  and  rumors  of  wars  which 
seemed  unceasing  and  ever-increasing  in  the  City  of  Brotherly  Love 
— to  Baltimore. 

The  Society  of  Friends  at  any  rate,  methinks,  must  gain  many 
converts  in  the  former  place.  Verily  I  was  a  Quaker  all  the  time 
I  staid  there,  and  still  tremble  at  the  recollection  of  it.  All  night 
a  sound  as  of  a  masque  and  procession  of  one  hundred  menageries 
let  loose,  filled  one's  ears.  The  deserts  of  Africa  seemed  to  have 
disgorged  half  their  denizens  on  the  beautiful  streets  of  fair  Phila- 
delphia ;  while  bells,  horns,  gongs,  and  rattling  fire-engines,  helped 
to  swell  the  hideous  chorus. 

I  had  understood  there  had  been,  some  time  ago,  serious  riots  at 
Philadelphia,  but  that  they  were  all  over  now,  and  I  was,  natur- 
ally surprised  at  this  hubbub  ;  but  on  inquiring  the  next  morning, 
all  I  learnt  was — it  was  the  fashion  of  the  dwellers  of  Moyamen- 
sing,  a  suburb  of  Philadelphia,  called,  I  believe,  a  "  district,"  to 
regale  the  ears  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  city  frequently  with  such 
harmonious  serenades.  These  gentlemen  appear  to  indulge  in  very 
peculiar  notions  of  music  and  melody,  and  to  be  resolved  that  at 
least  their  neighbors  shall  admire  no  rival  harmonists,  by  leaving 
them  completely  deafened  by  their  din.  The  Moyamensingists,  in 
short,  seem  to  look  upon  a  riot  or  a  row,  or  something  resembling 
it,  as  the  first  necessary  of  life  :  they  also  would  seem  to  entertain 
a  new  theory  with  regard  to  sleep,  and  to  consider  it  as  a  wholly 
needless  indulgence.  To  any  one  not  participating  in  these  senti- 
ments, Philadelphia  (while  thus  apparently  at  the  mercy  of  this 


APPEARANCE  OF  BALTIMORE.  79 

theoretical  and  experimentalizing  suburb)  can  not  be  an  eligible 
place  of  residence,  I  think  :  Sancho  Panza  certainly  would  shun 
it ;  for  blessed,  he  declared,  was  the  man  who  invented  sleep. 

It  is  said,  it  is  the  colored  people  residing  in  Moyamensing,  who 
are  the  chief  ringleaders  of  these  frequent  riots ;  but  I  know  not 
how  this  may  be.  At  New  York  I  heard  the  authorities  at  Phil- 
adelphia very  much  found  fault  with  for  their  supineness  in  allow- 
ing these  disturbances  to  take  place  :  if  there  was  a  proper  amount 
of  energy  and  resolution  displayed,  it  was  said,  Philadelphia  might 
be  as  orderly  and  tranquil  as  the  other  cities  of  the  United  States. 

Our  hotel  is  opposite  a  beautiful  building,  the  Custom  House 
(formerly  the  United  States  Bank),  of  the  Doric  order  of  archi- 
tecture, built  in  imitation  of  the  Parthenon  at  Athens,  but  lacking 
the  side  colonnades ;  it  reminded  me  much  of  its  glorious  prototype, 
except  in  its  situation,  which  is  unfavorable  to  it.  There  are  some 
fine  cemeteries  here  :  "  Laurel  Hill,"  "  Green  Mount  Cemetery," 
and  others  which  my  brief  stay  did  not  allow  me  to  visit. 

Baltimore  is  a  very  handsome  city,  situated  on  the  north  side  of 
the  Patapsco  River.  Jones's  Fall,  a  confluent  of  the  Patapsco, 
divides  it  into  two  parts.  (This  is  an  ill-sounding  conjunction  of 
Anglo-Saxon  and  Indian  names.  Again  I  rejoice  at  the  luck  that 
spared  Niagara  from  a  denomination  similar  to  the  preceding  one !) 
Three  fine  stone  bridges  and  four  wooden  ones  crossing  this  stream 
connect  the  different  parts  of  the  city. 

The  streets  of  Baltimore  are,  in  general,  very  regular,  clean, 
broad,  and  straight,  and  it  has  several  fine  monuments,  among 
which  lower  conspiciously,  Battle  Monument,  and  Washington 
Monument.  The  Catholic  Cathedral  is  a  noble  structure  :  it  has 
the  largest  organ  in  the  Union  ;  this  instrument  has  six  thousand 
pipes  and  thirty-six  stops  :  arid  the  cathedral  has  two  valuable 
paintings,  one  presented  by  Louis  the  Sixteenth,  and  the  other 
("  St.  Louis  burying  his  officers  and  soldiers  slain  before  Tunis") 
given  by  Charles  the  Tenth.  The  Merchants'  Shot  Tower  here 
rises  above  all  the  monuments  that  distinguish  Baltimore  :  it  is 
two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  and  is  said  to  be  higher  than  any 
similar  building  in  the  world,  exceeding  by  one  foot  that  at  Villach, 
in  Carinthia. 

Baltimore  is  said  to  be  the  greatest  flour  market  in  existence 
(within  twenty  miles  of  the  city  there  are  seventy  or  more  flouring 
mills)  ;  and  no  city  in  the  United  States  deals  so  extensively  in 
tobacco.  The  Patapsco  affords  numerous  valuable  mill  sites  (i'all- 
iug  eight  hundred  feet  in  thirty  miles)  ;  and  Jones's  Falls  also  yield 


80  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

a  considerable  water-power — it  has  thus  great  advantages  for  man- 
ufactures, and  they  appear  to  keep  pace  with  its  commerce. 

This  flourishing  city  spreads  rapidly :  one  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  fifty-nine  houses  were  erected  during  the  year  1847,  the  as- 
sessed value  of  which  is  more  than  two  million  six  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  population,  in  1840,  was  102,313  ;  it  is  now 
said  to  be  about  125,000.  The  capital  of  Maryland  contains  up- 
ward of  one  hundred  churches.  The  Maryland  University  is 
here  :  it  constitutes  one  of  the  most  important  institutions  of  the 
kind  in  the  country. 

Canton,  a  skeleton  suburb  of  the  city  of  monuments,  is  waiting 

for  nothing  but — houses ;  like  the  magnificent  library  at  E , 

that  had  every  thing  complete  except  books. 

Baltimore  has  an  admirable  harbor,  which  is  incessantly  crowd- 
ed with  shipping  :  and  who  has  not  heard  of  the  Baltimore  clip- 
pers, that  start  "before  the  wind  has  time  to  reach  their  sails,  and 
never  allow  it  to  come  up  with  them  ?" 

We  are  at  a  magnificent  hotel  here,  called  "Barnum's,"  and  its 
comforts  and  excellent  arrangements  are  scarcely  to  be  surpassed. 
It  is  admirably  conducted,  and  if  it  has  not  quite  the  "  gentleman- 
like 2X*rters"  spoken  of  in  some  of  the  hotel  cards,  it  has,  at  least, 
a  set  of  most  attentive  and  assiduous  domestics. 

In  coming  by  the  railroad  here,  I  was  struck  one  evening  by  the 
dread  the  Americans  appear  to  have  of  catching  cold.  The  car 

was  extremely  close,  and  V and  I  let  down  our  window,  and 

much  enjoyed  the  cool,  fresh  air,  which  we  thus  secured  in  our 
immediate  vicinity — we  beheld  instantly  a  simultaneous  stir  among 
the  passengers.  At  first,  I  could  not  think  that  the  fresh,  but 
hardly  cold  air,  I  had  been  instrumental  in  introducing  to  the 
crowded  and  suffocating  car,  occasioned  this  movement ;  but  I 
soon  ascertained  that  such  was  the  fact,  on  seeing  a  gentleman 
carefully  barricading  himself  with  a  large  carpet-bag  against  the 
assaults  of  his  aerial  foe.  His  appearance,  just  peeping  over  this 
gaudy-patterned,  defensive  wall,  was  rather  comical. 

One  opened  a  vast  umbrella,  and  disappeared  behind  its  ample 
shade  from  scrutiny  and  the  supposed  severity  of  the  elements, 
looking — as  there  was  neither  rain  nor  sun — like  that  Asiatic  po- 
tentate above  whose  head,  as  a  sign  of  royalty,  an_  umbrella  is  rev- 
erentially and  habitually  carried.  There  was  a  general  raising 
of  collars  and  buttoning  of  coats,  and  slouching  of  hats,  and  shrink- 
ing, and  shrugging ;  but  all  were  too  courteous  and  obliging  to 
remonstrate,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  one  of  the  victims  did  not 


ANTHRACITE  COAL  FIRES.  81 

actually  most  politely  assist  us  to  open  this  terrible  window,  though 
so  much  to  his  own  discomfiture. 

Shall  I  confess  it  ?  grieved  as  I  was  to  cause  so  much  apparent 
annoyance,  I  had  not  the  magnanimity  to  raise  the  glass — I  felt 
so  sure  that,  though  unpalatable  to  them,  this  homoeopathic  dose 
of  pure  air  was  for  their  good.  It  must  be,  no  doubt,  the  great 
variability  and  the  violent  extremes  of  their  climate,  that  render 
them  thus  susceptible  of  the  slightest  chill.  I  heard  some  saying ; 
"  we  shall  all  be  frozen  before  we  get  to  our  journey's  end,"  yet 
there  was  only  a  little  part  of  the  window  open,  and  the  only  per- 
sons close  to  it  were  ourselves.  I  think  I  ought  to  have  shut  it, 
notwithstanding ;  but  I  can  only  hope  none  of  the  passengers  suf- 
fered from  this  barbarous  infliction  of  Zephyrus.  We  who  stood 
the  whole  brunt  of  it  certainly  did  not. 

The  room  adjoining  our  sitting-room  is  occupied  by  an  exceed- 
ingly deaf  gentleman,  and  he  has  the  advantage  of  possessing  a 
friend  who  has  a  tremendously  loud  voice — a  perfect  Stentor :  the 
hallooing  and  bawling  are  past  description.  In  consequence  of  this 
proximity,  we  found  Baltimore  by  day  almost  as  noisy  as  Philadel- 
phia by  night.  At  first  I  could  not  imagine  what  the  shouting  was, 
and  thought  a  caravan  of  lions  or  Moyamensingers  had  arrived, 
and  were  accommodated  with  apartments  close  by.  Soon,  how- 
ever, the  various  friendly  inquiries  roared  out,  and  the  low  milder 
answers,  informed  me  of  the  truth. 

I  was  sorry,  but  really  could  not  help  hearing  the  communica- 
tions addressed  to  the  deaf  gentleman,  and  being  enlightened  by 
them  considerably  about  "  lots,"  and  "  sales,"  and  "  dollars."  What 
a  comical  effect  it  sometimes  had  to  hear  the  most  insignificant  re- 
marks hallooed  out  with  .Apollonicon-loudness,  and  often  with  a 
wrong  emphasis,  from  the  difficulty  of  sustaining  and  pitching  the 
voice  properly,  in  speaking  to  the  deaf  in  that  tone  of  "  live  thun- 
der" which  people  ordinarily  employ  under  such  circumstances.  I 
believe  one  ought,  instead,  to  speak  loiv  and  distinctly.  Hark  ! 
listen  to  Stentor ! — for  one  must  whether  one  will  or  no.  The 
louder  shouts  are  italicised.  "  I  guess  so,  sir :  that  chap  in  the 
pepper  and  salt  coat  popped  in  ;  he  hemmed  and  halved  at  first, 
and  then  squeaked  out — "  "  What  V  "  Squeaked,  I  say,"  with  a 
roar. 

The  weather  is  beginning  to  get  colder,  and  a  little  fire  every 
now  and  then  is  not  unpleasant.  I  like  the  anthracite  coal,  in 
which  taste  I  am  quite  in  a  minority :  it  is  supposed  to  give 
headaches,  and  to  be  verv  unwholesome  ;  I  have  never  Buffered 


82  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

from  its  effects  as  yet,  and  it  gives  so  little  trouble,  burning 
quietly,  and  lasting  for  an  immense  time.  It  goes  on  and  on  like 
a  free  horse,  wanting  not  that  whip  the  poker,  and  then  there  is 
no  smoke.  But  I  think  its  great  advantage  is  its  burning  so  long 
without  any  necessity  for  that  drawing-room  earthquake — the 
distracting  uproar  of  flinging  coals  on  the  grate.  In  short,  the 
coal-scuttle  (that  great  institution  of  England)  sings  very  small 
where  anthracite  is  used,  and  its  inner  darkness  is  banished  into 
outer  darkness. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

The  City  of  Washington — Pennsylvania  Avenue — The  "  City  of  Magnificent 
Distances" — The  Stentorian  Gentleman  and  his  Hogs — The  Capitol  de- 
scribed— Monument  to  Washington — The  Navy  Yard — Georgetown — A 
Digression  to  Tunis — Public  Buildings — The  Post  Office — The  Patent 
Office — The  Treasury — The  President's  Mansion — The  "  White  House" 
— Visit  to  General  Taylor,  the  late  President — His  Daughter,  Mrs.  Bliss 
— Appearance  of  General  Taylor — His  Affability — His  Conversation — 
Invitation  to  the  Authoress — Heat  of  the  Weather  in  November. 

WASHINGTON  would  be  a  beautiful  city  if  it  were  built ;  but  as 
it  is  not  I  can  not  say  much  about  it.  There  is  the  Capitol,  how- 
ever, standing  like  the  sun,  from  which  are  to  radiate  majestic 
beams  of  streets  and  avenues  of  enormous  breadth  and  astonishing 
length  ;  but  at  present  the  execution  limps  and  lingers  sadly  after 
the  design. 

This  noble  metropolitan  myth  hovers  over  the  north  bank  of  the 
Potomac  (this  Indian  name  means,  I  believe,  the  wild  swan,  or 
the  river  of  the  wild  swan),  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles 
from  Chesapeake  bay  and  at  the  head  of  tide  water.  Pennsyl- 
vania Avenue  is  splendid  :  it  is  about  three  hundred  feet  broad ; 
but  the  houses  are  not  colossal  enough  to  be  in  keeping  with  the 
immense  space  appropriated  to  the  thoroughfare.  They  should  be 
at  least  as  high  as  the  highest  of  old  Edinburgh  houses,  instead  of 
like  those  of  London,  which  some  one  compared  to  the  Paris  ones 
making  a  profound  courtesy.  Now  these  Pennsylvania  Avenue 
habitations  seem  making  a  very  distant  courtesy  indeed  to  their 
opposite  non-neighbors  ;  and  it  made  us  think  of  people  at  an  im- 
mensely wide  dining-table,  separated  as  "far  as  the  poles  assunder," 
by  way  of  a  pleasing  rencontre  and  social  intercourse.  However, 
that  is  merely  fancy  ;  you  do  not  want  to  talk  across  the  streets ; 


CITY  OF  WASHINGTON.  83 

and  this  appearance  would  vanish  if  the  houses  were  taller  and 
larger. 

Washington  is  called  the  "  City  of  Magnificent  Distances :"  it 
reminds  one  a  little  of  a  vast  plantation  with  the  houses  purposely 
kept  far  apart  to  give  them  room  to  grow  and  spread  :  the  "  side- 
walks" of  Pennsylvania  Avenue  are  twenty-six  feet  wide. 

My  unseen  friend,  Steritor,  was  in  the  same  railroad  car  with  us 
from  Baltimore  to  this  place,  and  the  gentleman  who  was  hard  of 
hearing  as  well — at  least  I  can  hardly  think  there  can  be  two 
sets  of  lungs  of  such  marvelous  power  in  the  same  country.  Still, 
the  theme  of  his  discourse  was  very  different ;  one  subject  occupied 
him  all  the  way — it  was  hogs.  The  car  was  full,  I  was  at  some 
distance  from  him,  but  no  other  voice  was  heard — how  could  it 
be  ?  Poor  Stentor !  he  was  lamenting  with  a  most  lachrymose 
roar,  the  abduction  of  some  magnificent  swine  :  their  size  was 
something  prodigious,  unparalleled  (maestoso),  their  fat  (in  a  melt- 
ing tone)  unheard  of — they  were  Stentor's  !  The  howl  with 
which  this  dreadful  fact  was  enunciated  made  one  start. 

But  this  was  not  all.  Some  friends,  possessors  of  almost  equally 
enchanting  animals,  had  lost  theirs  too.  "  One  wonderfully  splen- 
did creature  of  enormous  dimensions  (emphatically  expressed  in  a 
perfect  hurrah),  and  promising  to  grow  much  huger,  was  found 
killed  (this  in  a  lack-a-daisieal  bellow  of  grief  and  ire),  supposed  to 
be  with  a  spiteful  motive,  but  the  wretches  will  suffer  for  it  (a 
nine-times-nine,  and-one-oheer-more  sort  of  a  tone) !  It  was  the 
most  magnificent  hou  quite,  that  ever — "  and  here,  wonderful  to 
relate,  the  noise  of  the  railroad,  together  perhaps  with  his  own 
emotions,  overpowered  the  narrator.  There  was  that  terrible  din 
that  they  make  sometimes  in  the  States  when  another  train  is 
expected.  Very  quickly,  however,  this  was  over,  and  there  was 
Stentor  shouting  as  loud  as  ever,  or  rather  louder,  as  if  indignant 
at  the  interruption. 

"  The  lovely,  interesting  widow  was  much  afflicted,"  contin- 
ued he.  "  What,"  thought  I,  "  can  he  mean,  the  widow  of  the 
pig  !"  I  found  soon  she  was  the  proprietress  of  the  fat  animal  he 
was  grieving  for.  He  thundered  on  in  the  same  way,  and  on  the 
same  subject,  till  we  arrived ;  and  if  he  did  not  leave  his  poor 
friend  much  more  deaf  than  he  found  him,  it  is  matter  of  surprise. 
What  an  invaluable  "  rnuezziu"  he  would  make  ! 

I  have  had  the  great  pleasure  since  I  came  here  of  making  ac- 
quaintance with  Madame  C.  de  la  B ,  the  Spanish  ministress, 

here,  the  authoress  of  a  most  ch.irminn;  and  entertaining  work  on 


84  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

Mexico,  published  some  years  ago.  It  made  one  long  to  go  to 
Mexico,  and  1  find  it  is  not  at  all  impracticable,  from  Madame 
C 's  account.  I  have  a  great  mind  to  try  it. 

We  went  to  see  the  Capitol  soon  after  our  arrival.  There  is  a 
fine  colossal  statue  by  Greenough,  of  Washington,  placed  in  front 
of  it.  The  Capitol  itself  is  a  very  noble-looking  and  imposing  struc- 
ture, though  I  think  disadvantageous^  situated  with  regard  to  the 
city,  as  it  seems  rather  to  present  the  appearance  of  running  away 
from  it,  while,  like  the  flight  of  Louis-Philippe  in  the  memorable 
days  of  February,  there  is  nothing  running  after  it.  However,  it 
is  an  exceedingly  striking  and  handsome  building,  and  is  otherwise 
very  finely  situated. 

It  is  built  on  an  elevation  that  is  about  seventy-two  feet  above 
tide  water.  It  is  of  the  Corinthian  order  of  architecture,  and  is 
built  of  freestone ;  and  the  front,  including  the  wings,  is  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty-two  feet  long,  and  the  depth  of  the  wings  is  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-one  feet.  The  projection  in  the  main  front,  which 
looks  to  the  East  (hardly  complimentary  to  the  West,  in  this  world 
of  the  West),  is  decorated  by  a  handsome  portico  of  twenty-two 
lofty  Corinthian  columns.  The  broad  steps  leading  to  the  portico 
are  adorned  by  pedestals,  on  one  of  which  is  a  group  in  marble, 
representing  Columbus,  with  a  globe  in  his  outstretched  hand,  and 
an  Aboriginal  American  of  that  New  World  he  discovered,  a  fe- 
male figure,  in  a  lovely,  half  crouching  attitude  of  veneration  and 
•wonder,  beside  him.  The  remaining  pedestals  will,  in  process 
of  time,  no  doubt,  be  ornamented  by  groups  of  statuary.  To  the 
highest  top  of  the  dome,  the  height  of  the  building  is  one  hundred 
and  twenty  feet.  The  rotunda,  which  is  under  the  dome,  is  nine- 
ty-five feet  in  diameter,  and  the  same  in  height,  In  this  rotunda 
there  are  some  celebrated  pictures  by  Trumbull,  representing  his- 
torical subjects. 

The  hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives  is  in  the  second  story 
of  the  south  wing.  Its  form  is  semicircular  ;  it  is  ninety-six  feet 
long  and  sixty  feet  high,  and  has  a  dome  supported  by  twenty-four 
columns  of  native  variegated  marble,  whose  capitals  are  of  Italian 
marble.  The  chair  of  the  Speaker  occupies,  so  to  say,  the  centre  of 
the  chord  of  the  arc,  the  members'  seats  radiate  back  from  the  chair 
to  the  massive  pillars.  Congress  is  not  sitting  now.  The  Senate 
chamber  is  in  the  second  story  of  the  north  wing,  semicircular  like 
the  other,  but  of  smaller  dimensions,  being  seventy-eight  feet  long 
and  forty-five  feet  high.  The  library  is  a  fine  room,  containing 
thirty  thousand  volumes. 


THE   NAVY  YARD.— TUNIS.  83 

After  seeing  the  Capitol,  we  went  to  have  a  glimpse  of  the  Navy 
Yard.  There  we  beheld  two  mountainous  looking  ship-houses,  a 
man-of-war  steamer,  the  Alleghany,  lately  dismantled,  &c.  Keep- 
ing guard  on  board  the  Alleghany,  was  an  old  Irish  marine,  with  his 
face  tied  up  for  the  tooth-ache — a  most  lugubrious-looking  sentinel. 

We  saw  a  sadder  sight  after  that,  a  large  number  of  slaves,  who 
seemed  to  be  forging  their  own  chains,  but  they  were  making  chains, 
anchors,  &c.,  for  the  United  States  navy.  I  hope  and  think  slav- 
ery will  be  done  away  with  soon  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  where 
it  seems  indeed  strikingly  out  of  place.* 

Madame  C.  de  la  B kindly  took  us  to  Georgetown  a  day 

or  two  ago  in  her  carriage.  It  is  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Potomac 
River,  two  miles  to  the  west  of  Washington,  from  which  it  is  sep- 
arated by  Rock  Creek,  over  which  are  two  bridges,  I  think  the 
situation  of  Georgetown  delightful :  it  commands  a  fine  view  of  the 
Potomac,  of  Washington,  and  the  circumjacent  country.  Here 
you  observe  a  number  of  handsome  buildings  and  pleasant-looking 
country  seats,  and  here,  I  believe,  many  of  the  corps  diplomatique 
reside. 

Dr.  Heap,  American  consul  at  Tunis  (whom  we  made  acquaint- 
ance with  there),  called  on  me  lately.  I  was  glad  to  see  him, 
but  very  sorry  to  learn  that  he  had  had  more  than  one  melancholy 
loss  lately.  His  charming  daughter,  Mrs.  Ferrier,  was  in  a  very 
delicate,  indeed  alarming  state  of  health  while  we  were  there  :  she 
has  since  died,  and  she  left  her  husband  suffering  from  the  same 
complaint — consumption. 

Dr.  Heap  told  me  how  well  the  Bey  had  behaved  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  death  of  my  poor  much-esteemed  friend,  Sir  Thomas 
Reade.  He  sent  two  thousand  troops  to  attend  the  funeral,  and 
offered  the  Abdellia  to  Lady  Reade  for  her  life,  if  she  would  like 
to  live  there.  I  was  so  much  reminded  of  Tunis  by  the  way  in 
which  Dr.  Heap  shook  the  forefinger  of  the  right  hand  before  his 
chin,  whenever  be  wished  to  say  "  No."  This  negative  sign  is 
constantly  used  there  ;  and  I  remember  little  dear  Peter  Reade,  at 
five  years  old,  gravely  shaking  his  little  finger  backward  and  for- 
ward before  his  innocent  childish  countenance,  when  asked  any 
thing  from  .which  he  dissented,  as  solemnly  as  the  oldest  Moor  in 
the  Regency. 

The  General  Post  Office  here  is  a  handsome,  white  marble  build- 
ing, classical  and  simple.  The  Patent  Office  is  to  the  north  of  it, 

*  Since  the  letters  were  written  this  has  taken  place. 


86  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

and  is  a  very  noble  structure.  The  Treasury  is  splendid,  and  has  a 
colonnade  of  extraordinarily  great  length  and  beauty.  The  Presi- 
dent's mansion,  usually  called  the  "  White  House,"  is  of  ample 
size,  and  of  simple  architecture ;  it  has  altogether  a  noble  effect : 
quiet  lawns  surround  it,  and  some  fine  trees  are  grouped  near :  it 
is  said  to  be  not  at  all  in  a  healthy  situation. 

We  have  just  paid  a  visit  by  appointment  to  the  hero-President. 
Madame  C kindly  took  us  there.  I  was  much  pleased  at  be- 
ing allowed  to  take  V :  she  may  never  have  another  opportunity 

of  being  presented  to  a  President  of  the  United  States.  She  was 
delighted  at  going. 

General  Taylor  received  us  most  kindly.  He  had  had  two  coun- 
cils to  preside  over  that  morning,  and  when  we  first  arrived  at  the 
White  House,  he  was  actually  engaged  in  an  extra  Session  of 
Council — in  short,  overwhelmed  with  business,  which  rendered  it 
doubly  kind  and  amiable  of  him  to  receive  us.  Mrs.  Bliss,  the 
charming  daughter  of  the  President,  was  in  the  drawing-room  when 
we  first  went  in.  Mrs.  Taylor  has  delicate  health,  and  does  not 
do  the  honors  of  the  Presidential  mansion.  Mrs.  Bliss  received  us 
most  cordially  and  courteously,  saying  her  father  would  come  as 
soon  as  his  presence  could  be  dispensed  with.  Presently  after,  the 
President  made  his  appearance  :  his  manners  are  winningly  frank, 
simple,  and  kind,  and  though  characteristically  distinguished  by 
much  straightforwardness,  there  is  not  the  slightest  roughness  in  his 
address.  There  was  a  quick,  keen,  eagle-like  expression  in  the  eye 
which  reminded  me  a  little  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington's. 

He  commenced  an  animated  conversation  with  Madame  C.  de 

la  B and  us  :  among  other  things,  speaking  of  the  routes,  he 

recommended  me  to  follow,  steam  navigation,  Mexico,  and  the  Rio 
Grande,  &c. 

He  was  so  exceedingly  good-natured  as  to  talk  a  great  deal  to 
my  little  girl  about  roses  and  lilies,  as  if  he  had  been  quite  a 
botanist  all  his  life.  This  species  of  the  slight,  childish,  daffydown- 
dilly  talk  was  so  particularly  and  amiably  considerate  and  kind  to 
her,  that  it  overcame  her  shyness  at  once,  and  the  dread  she  had 
entertained  of  not  understanding  what  he  might  say  to  her. 

I  was  quite  sorry  when  the  time  came  for  us  to  leave  the  White 
House.  General  Taylor  strongly  advised  me  not  to  leave  America 
without  seeing  St.  Louis  :  he  said  he  considered  it  altogether  per- 
haps the  most  interesting  town  in  the  United  States  :  he  said  he 
recollected  the  greater  part  of  it  a  deep  dense  forest.  He  spoke 
very  kindly  of  England,  and  adverting  to  the  approaching  acceler- 


VISIT  TO  GENERAL  TAYLOR.  87 

ation  and  extension  of  steam  communication  between  her  and 
America  (the  contemplated  competition  about  to  be  established  by 
"  Collins'sline")  he  exclaimed,  "  The  voyage  will  be  made  shorter 
and  shorter,  and  I  expect  England  and  America  will  soon  be  quite 
alongside  of  each  other,  ma'am." 

"  The  sooner  the  better,  sir,"  I  most  heartily  responded,  at 
which  he  bowed  and  smiled. 

"We  are  the  same  people,"  he  continued,  "and  it  is  good  for 
both  to  see  more  of  each  other." 

"  Yes,"  I  replied,  "  and  thus  all  detestable  old  prejudices  will 
die  away." 

"  I  hope  so,"  he  said  :  "  it  will  be  for  the  advantage  of  toth." 

He  continued  in  this  strain  and  spoke  so  nobly  of  England,  that 
it  made  one's  heart  bound  to  hear  him.  And  he  evidently  felt 
what  he  said  ;  indeed,  I  am  sure  that  honest,  high-hearted,  true-as- 
steel,  old  hero  could  not  say  any  thing  he  did  not  feel  or  think. 

A  little  while  before  we  took  leave  he  said,  "  I  hope  you  will 
visit  my  farm  near  Natchez :  Cypress  Grove  is  the  name — a  sad 
name,"  he  said,  with  a  smile,  "but  I  think  you  will  find  it  inter- 
esting." I  thanked  him,  and  promised  so  to  do.  A  short  time 
previously,  after  talking  about  the  beauties  of  Nature  in  the  South, 

General  Taylor  had  said  to  V ,  that  he  longed  to  return  to 

that  farm,  and  to  his  quiet  home  near  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  added,  that  he  was  sorely  tired  of  public  life,  and  the  harassing 
responsibilities  of  his  high  office.  The  President  insisted  most 
courteously  on  conducting  us  to  our  carriage,  and  bareheaded  he 
handed  us  in,  standing  on  the  steps  till  we  drove  off,  and  cordially 
reiterating  many  kind  and  friendly  wishes  for  our  prosperous  jour- 
ney, and-health,  and  safety. 

We  afterward  went  to  Madame  C 's,  and  staid  some  time 

in  her  pleasant  house.  She  kindly  wishes  me  to  go  to  a  party  at 
her  house  to-night,  but  the  suddea  hot  weather  has  given  me  a 
headache,  and  I  fear  I  shall  not  be  able.  It  is  the  Indian  Sum- 
mer here,  now,  which  answers  to  the  French  "  Ete  de  St.  Martin," 
only  it  is  twenty  times  as  hot.  The  spacious  high  rooms  in  the 
White  House  felt  quite  oppressively  warm,  and  here  we  are  suffo- 
cated with*  heat,  though  the  drawing-room  is  a  large  apartment. 
I  think  it  is  like  a  July  in  England,  when  our  summer  has  not 
"  set  in  with  its  usual  severity."  Fans  and  parasols  are  plentiful ; 
and  there  are  no  fires  except  the  apparently  indispensable  ones 
which  are  lit,  it  would  almost  seem,  ibr  the  benefit  of  the  very 
numerous  fire-companies  here  and  elsewhere  in  the  Union. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

Discomforts  of  Traveling  over  the  Alleghanies — Mr.  Clay — Pittsbnrg  as 
sable  as  Sheffield — Its  Population — Visit  to  a  Glass  Factory  and  Iron 
Foundry — A  dingy  Vehicle — Factories  and  Foundries  in  Pittsburg — The 
Ohio — The  new  Suspension  Bridge  at  Wheeling — Accidents  to  Steamers 
caused  by  it — Courtesy  of  the  Captains  and  Clerks  of  Steamers — Cincin- 
nati— German  and  Irish  Immigrants  compared — Verses  addressed  to 
Emigrants. 

WE  had  a  very  cold  journey  to  Louisville  over  the  Alleghanies, 
but  a  safe  one,  which  is,  I  find,  matter  of  congratulation. 

I  think  it  was  the  day  before  we  started  from  Cumberland,  Mr. 
Clay  was  overturned  on  those  rough  roads :  most  fortunately:  he 
was  not  injured.  Another  carriage  that  started  about  the  same 
time  we  did,  was  detained  a  very  long  time ;  and  the  passengers 
had  to  walk  a  long  way.  I  am  not,  in  general,  fond  of  walking, 
but  should  particularly  hate  such  compulsory  pedestrianism. 

One  can  not  wonder  at  accidents  in  crossing  these  mountains, 
for  the  drivers  appear  to  be  frequently  intoxicated,  and  are  rough 
and  reckless,  cruel  to  their  horses,  by  over-urging  them,  and  oruel 
to  their  passengers,  driving  often  full  gallop  over  the  worst  part  of 
abominable  roads,  to  the  almost  dislocation  of  their  limbs  and  the 
bumping  and  thumping  of  their  unfortunate  heads  against  the 
hard  roof  of  the  vehicle.  If  there  be  any  truth  in  phrenology, 
what  changes  in  character  must  be  wrought  during  a  journey 
across  the  Alleghanies  !.'  The  •morose  cynic  may  come  out  sweet 
as  syrup ;  the  humble  with  an  ambition,  that  will  be  already 
practiced  in  "  overvaulting  itself"  and  tumbling  on  the  other  side  ! 
A  Pensylvanian  Quaker  might  be  shaken  out  of  all  his  trembling 
sectarianism,  or  a  French  novel-writer  tossed  into  a  demure  Broad- 
brim. I  can  answer  for  our  tempers  being  very  materially  changed. 

I  am  particularly  sorry  to  miss  seeing  Mr.  Clay,  for  whom  I  had 
a  letter  of  introduction  from  Mr. :  it  is  the  only  disappoint- 
ment I  have  yet  had  in  America.  He  crossed  the  Alleghanies  for 
Washington  in  good  time  to  avoid  bad  roads  and  bad  weather. 
The  first  he  certainly  did  not. 

We  stopped  at  Pittsburg  on  our  way  hither  at  an  excellent 
hotel  called  the  Monongahela  House.  At  Pittsburg  we  went  to 
see  some  manufactories,  and  iron  foundries,  in  a  sort  of  coal-scuttle 
on  wheels.  No  mourning  coach  was  ever  so  thoroughly  black, 


PITTSBURG.  89 


methinks,  inwardly  and  outwardly  ;  and,  that  we  might  be  in 
keeping  with  our  vehicle,  we  found  it  obligingly  undertook  (with- 
out any  outlay  or  trouble  on  our  part)  to  put  us  all  into  decent 
mourning. 

Pittsburg  has  as  sable  a  complexion  as  Sheffield.  It  is  situated 
at  the  confluence  of  the  Monongahela  and  the  Alleghany  (the  lat- 
ter name,  I  believe,  means  "  clear  water"),  which  by  their  union 
form  the  noble  Ohio.  These  two  rivers,  together,  avail  not  to 
cleanse  the  sooty  Pittsburg ;  if  they  did,  as  Coleridge  said  of  the 
Rhine  at  Cologne,  nothing  could  ever  wash  them  clean  again 
(though  it  has  not  the  hundred  and  seventy-two  distinct  "  mauf&ises 
odeurs"  of  that  city).  Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  its  brunette  color- 
ing, it  is  a  handsome  town.  With  its  suburbs,  it  contains  about 
seventy-five  thousand  inhabitants  ;  some  say  a  hundred  thousand. 

A  great  number  of  Germans  are  settled  at  Pittsburg.  In  one 
manufactory  (a  glass  one)  we  heard  hardly  any  language  but  Ger- 
man spoken.  An  American  in  that  manufactory  looked  rather 
reproachfully  at  us,  with  a  glassy  eye — or  an  eye  to  the  glass — 
and  said,  we  English  were  underselling  them  in  articles  of  this 
material.  I  bore  the  "brittle"  impeachment  as  well  as  I  could; 
this  glass  was  slippery  ground,  and  I  was  fain  to  slide  off  it. 

In  the  place  we  next  went  to,  without  meaning  to  insinuate  any 
thing  to  the  prejudice  of  Pittsburg,  which  is  a  well-principled  and 
orthodox  city,  I  doubt  not,  it  really  appeared  to  me  they  had  deal- 
ings in  the  black  art — (I  must  beg  to  disclaim  any  allusion  to  the 
half-mourning  tints  which  seem  the  fashion  here) — so  wondrous 
was  the  rapidity  of  the  processes,  and  the  way  in  which  the  work- 
men appeared  to  be  snowballing  one  another  with  huge  lumps  and 
blocks  of  red-hot  iron.  The  noise  was  very  great,  and  the  glare  ; 
but  in  the  midst  of  the  confusion  a  woman  stood  with  a  mite  of  a 
baby  in  her  arms,  an  infant  Cyclops,  or  young  Vulcan  himself  in 
bib  and  tucker — to  judge  by  the  coolness  with  which  it  surveyed 
the  scene  and  listened  to  the  noise,  as  if  the  whole  were  got  up  for 
its  especial  edification,  and  it  would  like  much  to  have  all  those 
pretty  playthings  that  were  being  tossed  about  on  all  sides. 

It  was  late,  and  our  "  coal-scuttle"  stopped  the  way,  so  we  de 
parted,  still  leaving  the  little  Vulcan  evidently  deeply  engaged  in 
teaching  his  own  young  idea  how  to  shoot,  or  to  toss  those  nice 
balls  of  red  hot  iron,  which  he  would  also  have  liked  uncommonly 
to  stuff  into  his  mouth,  big  as  they  were.  We  stepped  most  gin- 
gerly into  our  jetty  coach ;  but  in  vain  did  we  try  to  escape  being" 
made  finished  chimney-sweepers.  Methinks  it  must  have  served 


90  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

a  subterraneous  apprenticeship  in  some  coal-mine  as  a  lowly  wagon 
for  the  conveyance  of  that  article,  before  it  was  promoted  to  its 
present  office  above-ground — the  reverse  of  the  fate  of  mortals. 
The  driver  was  hopelessly  black,  having  the  features,  however,  of 
a  white  man,  and  the  brogue  of  the  Green  Erin.  He  affected  to 
guard  our  dresses  from  the  wheel  as  we  ascended,  which  delicate 
attention  was  but  a  refinement  of  barbarity,  adding  insult  to  injury. 
We  met  a  number  of  similarly  sable  coaches,  but  1  think  ours  bore 
the  belle. 

There  are  twenty-five  furnaces,  and  five  forges  and  rolling-mills 
in  I^tsburg,  besides  which,  there  are  woolen  and  cotton  factories, 
machine  shops,  tanneries,  and  hardware,  cutlery,  and  several 
other  manufactories  in  abundance.  The  city  is  lighted  by  gas, 
which  is  produced  by  the  bituminous  coal  that  fills  the  hills  which 
surround  Pittsburgh.  Most  of  the  extensive  manufactories  are  not 
in  the  city,  but  are  distributed  over  a  circle  of  about  five  miles' 
radius  from  the  Court  House,  which  stands  on  Grant's  Hill.  One 
of  the  suburbs  of  Pittsburg  is  called  Birmingham. 

The  Ohio  quite  exceeded  my  expectations  :  the  river  and  the 
scenery  are  both  beautiful.  We  came  under  a  splendid  new  sus- 
pension bridge  at  Wheeling,  which  is  however,  a  bone  of  conten- 
tion just  now  between  various  parties.  It  seems,  the  bridge  is  not 
high  enough  for  some  of  the  lofty  funnels  of  the  steamers,  and 
several  of  these  have  had  some  very  hard  knocks.  There  are  great 
complaints  in  consequence  ;  and  the  poor  captains  of  these  crippled 
boats  seem,  to  judge  by  the  newspapers,  to  take  their  disfigurement 
and  discomfiture  quite  to  heart.  Captain  This  has  felt  himself 
grievously  wounded  through  the  knock-down  blows  dealt  at  the 
splendid  steamer  "  Explosion,"  by  the  bridge  aforesaid  ;  and  Cap- 
tain That  thinks  he  will  never  entirely  recover — indeed,  will  carry 
sympathetically  to  the  end  of  his  days  the  marks  left  on  his  beauti- 
ful steamer,  the  "  Racer." 

If  there  is  any  safety  in  new  steamers,  we  need  not  just  now  be 
afraid  of  boilers  bursting,  or  any  such  foreseen  accidents,  on  these 
rivers ;  for,  since  this  new  and  destruction-dealing  bridge  has  been 
built,  it  is  extraordinary  how  every  steamer  on  the  river,  accord- 
ing to  the  complainants'  statements  (save  those  with  low  funnels) 
seems  equally  "new,"  "splendid,"  and  just  "come  out."  It  must 
be  provoking,  it  is  true,  to  be  knocked  on  the  head — of  your  steam- 
er, arid  to  be  forced  to  cut  her  down  yourself  without  mercy.  That 
bridge,  in  short,  proves  a  "  bridge  of  sighs"  to  the  navigators  of  the 
Ohio.  As  for  our  boat,  being  of  moderate  proportions,  she  did  not 


GERMAN  AND  IRISH  IMMIGRANTS.  01 

receive  the  slightest  contusion  on  her  crown.  She  was,  (though 
not  holding  her  head  as  high  as  some)  an.  extremely  fine  and  com- 
fortable vessel. 

The  captains  of  these  steamers  appear  universally  a  most  gentle- 
man-like set  of  persons,  and  the  clerks  are  always  as  civil  and 
obliging  as  possible.  The  other  day,  having  heard  one  particular 
steamer  was  the  best,  I  sent  to  take  places  in  it :  all  was  arranged 
and  paid,  but  the  person  who  had  taken  the  tickets  had  mistaken 
a  rival  boat  for  the  one  specified.  When  I  found  out  this  misun- 
derstanding, which  was  not  till  we  went  down  to  the  wharf  to 
embark,  I  went  to  the  clerk  (not  liking  the  appearance  flPthis 
boat  so  much  as  that  of  the  opposition  one  to  which  we  had  been 
recommended)  and  informed  him  of  the  error  that  had  been 
committed,  and  asked  if  we  might  be  allowed  to  change.  He 
most  courteously  complied,  and  returned  the  money.  In  the 
hurry  of  departure,  I  did  not  do  what  I  now  feel  sorry  I  did 
not — return  such  civility  by  going  by  the  smaller  boat,  after  all ; 
for  such  obliging  conduct  deserves  to  meet  with  reciprocal  com- 
plaisance. 

We  only  stopped  a  day  at  Cincinnati,  for  the  hotels  were  all 
crowded,  which  made  it  extremely  uncomfortable.  The  "  Queen 
City  of  the  West,"  is  built  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Ohio.  It  has 
floating  wharves,  which  are  rendered  necessary  by  the  continual 
and  rapid  fluctuations  of  the  river.  It  is  a  very  handsome  city, 
and  in  a  remarkably  fine  situation.  In  1840,  the  population  was 
46,338  ;  and  now  it  is  estimated  at  about  1 10,000.  I  asked  them, 
at  Pittsburg,  and  other  places,  how  they  liked  the  German  immi- 
grants. You  almost  invariably  receive  the  same  reply  to  this  ques- 
tion : — "Very  much.  They  are  the  best  immigrants  possible: 
industrious,  generally  sober  and  quiet — not  quarrelsome  like  the 
Irish."  Then  they  added — "  but  we  could  not  do  without  the 
Irish.  They  build  all  our  railroads,  make  our  roads,  canals,  and 
do  all  the  hardest  work  in  the  country." 

"Wanderers !  who  come  from  many  a  distant  zone, 
To  gaze  on  Nature's  Transatlantic  throne  : — 
Wanderers! — whose  feet  like  mine  ne'er  trod  before, 
This  proud,  magnificently-various  shore; 
Ne'er  lightly  view  the  thousand  scenes  sublime 
Of  great  America's  resplendent  clime; 
But  still,  in  thoughtful  mood's  observant  care 
Weigh  well  the  many-mingling  glories  there 
Since  all  the  loftier  wonders  of  the  land 
Are  most  admired,  when  best  ye  understand. 


93  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

'Tis  a  glad,  gracious  study  for  the  soul, 
As  part  by  part  the  Heaven-stamped  leaves  unroll, 
To  watch  the  crowing  triumphs  still  expand, 
The  will,  the  wisdom  live  along  the  land ! 

Not  only  all-majestic  Nature  here 
Speaks  to  each  kindling  thought,  but  far  and  near 
A  large  and  mighty  meaning  seems  to  lurk, 
A  glorious  mind  is  every  where  at  work  ! — 
A  bold,  grand  spirit  rules  and  reigns  around, 
And  sanctifies  the  common  air  and  ground  ; 
And  glorifies  the  lowliest  herb  and  stone 
With  conscious  tints  and  touches  of  its  own ; — 
JA       A  spirit  ever  flashing  back  the  sun, 

That  scorns  each  prize  while  aught  is  to  be  won ; — 

More  boundless  than  the  prairie's  wondrous  sweep, 

Or  the  old  Atlantic's  long-resounding  deep ; — 

And  more  luxuriant  than  the  forest's  crowd 

Of  patriarch  trees,  by  weightiest  foliage  bowed ; — 

More  rich  than  California's  teeming  mould, 

Whose  hoarded  sunbeams  laugh  to  living  gold ; — 

More  soaring  far  than  the  immemorial  hills, 

More  fresh  and  flowing  than  their  streams  and  rills. 

That  mind  of  quenchless  energy  and  power 

Which  springs  from  strength  to  strength,  hour  after  hour; 

Man's  glorious  mind  in  its  most  glorious  mood, — 

That  seems  for  aye,  on  every  side  to  brood 

In  this  empurpled  and  exultant  land 

So  gladly  bowed  beneath  its  bright  command. 

Man's  sovereign  mind  in  its  most  sovereign  march, 

Embracing  earth,  like  light's  own  rainbowed  arch. 

That  soul — that  mind,  'tis  every  where  revealed, — 
It  crowns  the  steep,  it  gilds  the  cultured  field, 
Bids  science,  art,  and  studious  knowledge  aid, 
Till  all  hath  heard  its  voice,  and  all  obeyed. 
It  charms  the  waste,  and  paves  the  rushing  stream, 
And  scarce  allows  the  sun  a  vagrant  beam  ; 
The  obsequious  lightning  to  its  service  trains, 
And  bids  the  elements  to  wear  its  chains. 
It  tames  the  rugged  soil  of  rocks,  and  flings 
From  seas  to  seas  the  shadow  of  its  wings ; 
And  Time  and  Space  in  that  great  shadow  rest, 
And  watch  to  serve  their  ruler-sons'  behest ; 
And  still  its  growing,  gathering  influence  spreads, 
And  still  abroad  its  own  great  life  it  sheds 
O'er  mount  and  lake,  o'er  cataract,  field  and  flood—- 
O'er rock,  and  cave,  and  isle,  o'er  plain  and  wood : 
It  lives,  it  lightens,  and  its  might  inspires 
Each  separate  scene  with  fresh  creative  fires. 
Where'er  it  moves  a  wondering  world  awakes, 
And  fast  all  nature's  form  its  likeness  takes ; 

It  quickening  thrills,  and  kindles  and  pervades 

Her  startled  deserts  and  receding  shades, 


DESCRIPTION  OF  LOUISVILLE.  93 

Her  mightiest  solitudes  and  paths  unknown, 

Her  deep-vailed  shrines,  and  well-springs  pure  and  lone. 

America's  great  Mind,  the  true  New  World, 

Launched  like  the  sun,  'gainst  th!  elder  darkness  hurled ; 

Hung,  as  The  Heavens  are  hung,  above  them  all, 

And  holding  their  sublimest  powers  in  thrall ! 

It  must  be  confessed  that  Cincinnati,  the  pride  of  the  banks  of 
"  La  belle  Riviere,"  is  in  fact  what  its  nickname,  "  Porkopolis," 
implies — the  Empire  City  of  Pigs,  as  well  as  of  the  West ;  but  it 
is  fortunate  that  they  condescendingly  allow  human  beings  to  share 
that  truly  magnificent  location  with  them. 


CHAPTER  XVH. 

Description  of  Louisville — Its  Trade  and  Natural  Productions — Its  Soil  and 
Rivers — The  Kentucky  Caves — A  Visit  to  one — Its  Avenues,  Domes, 
Cataracts,  Pits,  and  Rivers — A  Sea  in  it — The  vociferous  Bats — Echoes 
of  the  Cave — The  Cave  once  the  Residence  of  consumptive  Patients — 
The  eyeless  Fish — The  narrow  Path  and  the  fat  Englishman — Vast 
Extent  of  the  Cave — Verses  suggested  by  it. 

WE  have  had  a  very  interesting  expedition  to  the  Mammoth 
Cave  of  Kentucky.  But,  first,  a  word  of  Louisville  itself. 

It  is  a  fine  city,  and  the  best  lighted,  I  think,  that  I  have  seen 
in  the  United  States.  I  imagine  the  Louisvillians  are  proud  of 
this,  as  they  have  their  diligences  start  at  four  o'clock  in  the  win- 
ter's morning  !  It  is  the  chief  commercial  city  of  Kentucky,  and 
lies  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Ohio.  The  canal  from  Portland  en- 
ables large  steamers  to  come  to  the  wharves.  An  extensive  trade 
is  carried  on  here,  and  there  are  manufactories  of  various  descrip- 
tions, the  facilities  offered  by  the  enormous  water-power  of  the 
region  assisting  greatly  in  the  development  of  this  department  of 
industry.  There  are  numerous  factories,  foundries,  woolen  and 
cotton  mills,  flour-mills,  &c.  The  population  is  about  forty-seven 
thousand  :  in  1800,  it  was  only  six  hundred.  Kentucky  is  a  very 
prosperous  state. 

The  natural  growths  of  the  soil  are — the  black  cherry,  black 
walnut,  chestnut,  honey-locust,  buck-eye,  pawpaw,  mulberry,  sugar- 
maple,  ash,  elm,  white-thorn,  cotton-wood,  and  abundance  of  grape- 
vines, and  various  others.  Part  of  the  country  we  traversed  in 


94  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

going  to  "  The  Cave,"  is  called  the  "  Barrens ;"  other  portions  looked 
very  fertile,  and  reminded  me  exceedingly  of  England.  "  The 
Barrens,"  were  bestowed  some  time  ago  gratuitously  on  actual 
settlers,  as  the  Legislature  of  the  State  were  under  the  erroneous 
impression  that  the  tract  was  of  little  value  ;  but  it  proved  to  be 
remarkably  good  grain  land,  and  particularly  well  adapted  to  graz- 
ing and  the  successful  rearing  of  cattle. 

Below  the  mountains,  the  whole  of  Kentucky,  it  appears,  rests 
on  an  enormous  bed  of  limestone,  generally  about  eight  feet  beneath 
the  surface.  Every  where  in  this  formation  are  found  apertures, 
which  they  denominate  "  Sink-holes."  Through  these  the  flowing 
waters  of  the  rivers  disappear  into  the  earth.  Several  of  these 
were  pointed  out  to  us  on  our  journey.  Owing  to  this  the  waters 
in  Kentucky  are  more  impoverished  and  diminished  during  the  hot 
and  dry  season,  than  those  of  any  other  portion  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  lesser  streams  vanish  entirely. 

The  banks  of  the  rivers  are  quite  natural  curiosities.  Very  pro- 
found channels  are  usually  worn  in  the  calcareous  rock  which  they 
pass  over  in  their  course.  The  Kentucky  River  especially  is  said 
to  have  sublime  precipices  of  great  height,  on  either  side,  consist- 
ing of  almost  perpendicular  banks  of  solid  limestone. 

There  are  several  huge  caves  between  Green  and  Cumberland 
rivers ;  but  the  one  we  went  to  see  is  the  largest.  The  size  of 
it  may  be  guessed  when  I  inform  the  reader  that  we  walked  in  it 
the  first  day  eight  miles,  four  in  and  four  out ;  and  the  second 
fourteen,  seven  in  and  seven  out,  hardly  traversing  any  of  the  same 
ground,  except  just  at  the  beginning.  In  fact,  this  marvelous  cave 
is  a  little  subterranean  state  in  itself,  that  might. almost  claim  to  bo 
admitted  separately  into  the  Union,  if  it  had  any  population  besides 
mummies  and  bats  (and,  alas !  the  former  have  disappeared,  to 
our  regret). 

The  cave  contains,  it  is  said,  two  hundred  and  twenty-six  ave- 
nues !  It  has,  besides,  forty-seven  domes,  eight  cataracts,  twenty- 
three  pits,  and  several  rivers — one,  the  River  Styx — and,  I  believe, 
a  small  sea,  the  Dead  Sea.  The  Echo  River  (called  so  from  its 
possessing  a  very  remarkable  and  powerful  echo)  is  wide  enough 
and  deep  enough  to  float  the  largest  steamer.  The  great  dome  is 
four  hundred  feet  high.  In  1813,  two  Indian  mummies  were  found 
here,  wrapped  in  highly-ornamented  deerskins ;  so  that  it  is  evi- 
dent, though  the  white  men  have  only  of  late  years  discovered  this 
gigantic  cavern,  the  red  warriors  ,knew  of  it  in  days  of  yore.  There 
was  a  great  deal  of  saltpetre  found  in  this  cave,  and  the  remains 


MAMMOTH  CAVE.  95 


of  the  furnaces,  and  large  mounds  of  ashes,  are  still  to  be  seen  near 
the  entrance. 

In  one  of  the  most  beautiful  chambers  we  saw  in  the  interior  of 
this  vast  underground  Palace  of  Nature,  the  roof  appeared  to  repre- 
sent a  firmament  of  stars  !  A  comet,  with  its  train  of  light,  seemed 
sparkling  in  the  distance.  And  in  another  place,  the  appearance 
of  the  roof  was  that  of  an  "  inverted  flower-garden"  (as  Professor 

,  at  Washington,  happily  called  it,  in  describing  the  wonders 

of  this  under-world  to  me).  The  bats,  which  are  "  located"  near 
the  mouth  of  the  cave  (where,  spacious  an  area  as  it  is,  there  are 
excellent  lodgings  for  man  and  bat — if  any  of  the  former  are  tired 
of  this  very  superficial  earth),  are  the  noisiest  little  rascals  I  ever 
met  with.  Jabbering  like  monkeys,  chattering  like  magpies,  they 
appear  to  repudiate  all  connection  with  their  humble,  quiet  little 
cousins,  the  mice.  They  made  such  a  din  when  we  entered  their 
chosen  precincts,  that  it  seemed  as  if  they  were  hissing  us  off  the 
subterranean  stage  on  which  we  were  making  our  debut,  rather 
agitated  at  our  novel  position ;  or  perhaps  they  were  intending 
those  suspicious  sounds  for  cheers — nine  times  nine,  and  one  cheer 
more — and  the  Kentish  (or,  rather,  the  Kentuckyish)  fire,  at  our 
entry. 

Without  caring  to  silence  this  bat-tery,  we  proceeded,  and  soon 
invaded  the  haunts  of  old  Silence  herself.  Ours  being  almost 
entirely  a  female  party,  it  will  readily  be  imagined,  we  did  little 
to  disturb  the  stillness  of  the  place  !  One  English  and  one  Ameri- 
can gentleman,  however,  were  also  there  ;  and  I  can  not  answer 
equally  for  them,  especially  the  latter,  who,  however,  did  the  honors 
of  the  cave  most  admirably.  He  knew  every  nook  of  it,  brought 
out  the  echoes  splendidly,  with  "  The  Arkansas  Hunters,"  "  Uncle 
Ned,"  "  O !  Susanna,"  and  other  far-famed  works  of  the  great 
masters,  finishing  with  "  Yankee-doodle,"  and  repeated  some  really 
very  fine  and  striking  lines,  author  unknown.  There  is  a  magnifi- 
cent natural  church  in  the  cave  ;  and  here  divine  service  has  been 
performed,  we  were  assured.  Of  course,  we  had  a  great  number 
of  torches,  or  rather  lamps  with  us.  Bengal  lights  are  sometimes 
used  here,  but  we  had  not  given  due  warning,  and  none  were  to 
be  procured. 

Some  of  the  sadder  things  to  be  seen  in  this  gloomy  stronghold 
of  Nature,  are  the  remains  of  a  number  of  small  ruined  houses, 
erected  within  the  cave  for  consumptive  patients,  the  constantly 
equable  temperature  of  this  solemn  place  being  considered  as  of 
great  efficacy  in  restoring  them  to  health.  This  idea  is,  however, 


96  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

I  should  imagine,  almost  abandoned,  if  we  may  judge  by  the  dilapi- 
dated structures  before  alluded  to  ;  indeed,  we  understand  that  the 
depressing  effect  on  the  spirits  of  the  sufferers  tended  greatly  to 
counteract  the  beneficial  influence  of  the  unvarying  and  mild  tem- 
perature. They  were  obliged  to  remove  these  melancholy  habita- 
tions to  some  distance  from  each  other,  as  they  found  the  constant 
sound  of  the  hollow  cough  reverberating  through  the  vaulted  gal- 
leries irritated  the  nerves,  and  affected  the  spirits  of  the  invalids 
grievously.  I  can  not  imagine  it  doing  any  good  in  a  single  in- 
stance ;  yet  it  is  said  some  apparent  cures  were  performed  ;  but  on 
returning  to  the  upper  earth  and  the  cheerfulness  of  day,  the  symp- 
toms of  the  disorder  immediately  returned,  and,  therefore,  the  only 
hope  of  continued  existence  was  in  renouncing  all  its  delights  and 
charms  ;  in  perpetuating  this  most  dreary  exile,  in  living  as  much 
like  the  dead  as  possible,  and  in  anticipating  and  rehearsing,  as  it 
were,  the  loneliness,  the  gloom,  the  silence  of  the  grave.  These 
ruined  tenements  made  me  shudder  ;  sepulchres  of  the  living  as  they 
must  have  been. 

Even  for  the  short  time  I  was  in  the  cave  I  felt  a  strange  op- 
pression, and  a  longing  for  the  sun  and  the  free  fresh  air  again,  that 
was  almost  painful.  Notwithstanding  this,  you  can  undergo  much 
greater  fatigue  in  the  cave  than  outside — owing,  I  was  told,  to  the 
remarkable  elasticity  of  the  air  there ;  but  walking  so  long,  and 
over  such  frightfully- rugged  ground  made  me  very  thirsty.  Some 
of  the  springs  were  of  delicious  water,  but  one  that  we  drank  of 
was  like  sulphur  :  we  should  have  thought  it  horrible  under  other 
circumstances,  bftt  were  so  suffering  from  drought,  that  we  found 
it  then  and  there  exquisite. 

One  of  the  most  singular  curiosities  of  this  stupendous  cave,  are 
the  eyeless  fish  that  are  found  in  one  of  the  rivers  :  they  are  not 
only  destitute  of  eyes,  but  have  not  the  faintest,  slightest  rudiments 
of  the  organ,  or  place  for  it ;  the  skull  is  perfectly  smooth.  I  had 

heard  these  fish  much  talked  of  by  Professors  A and  G 

at  Cambridge,  and  was  anxious  to  see  one  ;  there  were  some 
swimming  about  in  the  river,  but  I  could  not  thus  examine  their 
peculiarities  satisfactorily ;  subsequently,  I  got  a  preserved  one  in 
spirits.  They  are  to  be  purchased  of  the  guides. 

There  is  in  the  cave  an  extraordinarily  narrow  path,  between 
immense  rocks,  through  which  a  human  being  can  with  difficulty 
force  his  way.  The  American  gentleman  I  have  alluded  to  before 
gave  an  amusing  account  of  a  fat  Englishman  accomplishing  this 
feat,  and  emerging  on  the  other  side,  all  sorts  of  shapes — a  kind  of 


MAMMOTH  CAVE.  97 


Proteus,  exhibiting  at  one  and  the  same  time,  a  pleasing  variety 
of  appearances.  One  arm  jammed  into  his  side,  one  cheek  alarm- 
ingly flattened,  and  the  other,  by  the  contrast,  apparently  pufied 
out  preposterously,  as  if  the  material  of  the  one  had  been  squeezed 
into  the  other.  By  all  accounts  he  must  have  looked  something 
like  a  huge  pillow,  of  which  the  feathers  had  been  displaced  in 
one  part,  and  huddled  up  in  another,  which,  in  short,  had  shifted 
its  cargo  of  down  !  and  that  required  shaking  and  putting  to  rights. 
By  degrees  the  metamorphosis  ceased,  and  he  shortly  regained  his 
natural  shape,  but  then  the  poor  wretch  had  to  endure  a  second 
martyrdom  !  I  know  not  the  end  of  his  history,  perhaps  he  staid 
on  the  other  side  for  a  while,  practiced  abstemiousness,  and  went 
into  training,  and  so  came  out  of  the  cave  a  "  lean  and  slippered 
pantaloon,"  having  gone  in  like  a  Folstaff.  This  "  Winding 
Way"  is  popularly  known  as  "  The  Fat  Man's  Misery." 

It  is  the  tall  man's  also,  for  even  women  have  here  and  there 
to  bend  almost  double.  One  longed  to  walk  with  one's  head 
under  one's  arm,  in  imitation  of  some  of  the  gentry  who  figure  in 
ghost  stories.  I  suffered  several  times  from  a  severe  concussion  of 
my  bonnet,  and  only  narrowly  escaped  a  compound  fracture  of  the 
comb. 

As  to  the  cave  altogether,  it  is  magnificent — that  is,  what  we 
saw  of  it ;  for  many  parts  of  it  we  did  not  see  at  all,  which  are 
already  explored,  and  it  is  said  people  may  go  on  exploring  for 
three  hundred  miles  or  more  ;  I  should  be  sorry  to  try  the  experi- 
ment. After  this  under-ground  jaunt — after  this  sort  of  temporary 
burial,  I  think  one  almost  requires  a  dozen  or  so  of  balloon-ascen- 
sions to  restore  the  equilibrium  of  one's  feelings,  and  take  away 
the  subterraneousness  of  one's  sensations,  and  ungrovelize  one's  self; 
— in  short,  to  carry  off  a  little  of  the  superabundant  earthliness 
that  one  feels  has  been  acquired  by  walking  below  ground,  where 
should  be  nothing  but  graves  and  gas-pipes,  and  cellars  and  worms, 
and  Guy  Fawkeses,  and  sorcerers,  and  mummies,  and  trains  of 
gunpowder,  and  fossil  Ichthyosauruses. 

Stalactites  and  stalagmites  are  beautiful  and  interesting,  but 
they  seem  to  me  to  have  a  sort  of  magnetism  of  petrifaction  about 
them,  and  to  inoculate  one  with  ossification.  Glad  was  I  when 
we  wended  our  way  from  these  mighty  vaults,  with  their  imita- 
tion stars  and  hobgoblin  roses  :  we  had  to  pass  again  by  the  samo 
great  Hall  by  which  we  entered,  under  the  living  leathern  canopy 
of  the  imminent  bats  wnich  almost  grazed  or  stuck  to  ouomuch- 
cnduring  bonnets  as  we  passed — so  low  was  the  roof  in  some  places. 

E 


TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 


THE  MAMMOTH  CAVE  IN  KENTUCKY. 

And  have  a  thousand  burning  worlds  on  high, 

And  tens  of  thousands  marshaled  in  the  sky. 

Scattering  their  splendor  o'er  Heaven's  boundless  plain 

Besieged  thy  gates  for  ages — and  in  vain  ? 

Never  the  gentle  Pleiad  here  hath  gazed ; 

Not  here  hath  ever  flashing  comet  blazed , 

Nor  keenest  lightning  sent  one  arrowy  ray, 

'Midst  these  dread  strongholds  of  the  night  to  play, 

Nor  here  the  artillery  of  the  thunder  even 

E'er  woke  one  echo  of  the  Voice  of  Heaven. 

Stars  from  their  spheres  have  shot — but  here  unmisscd, 
Of  them  this  frowning  under-world  ne'er  wist. 
Still  of  the  sun  unseen,  there  lives  a  sign, 
His  warmth  comes  even  to  this  sepulchral  shrine. 
Yet  by  no  change  seems  the  awful  gloom  beguiled, 
Here  rain  nor  rainbow  ever  wept  nor  smiled. 
Yet  oh !  the  hanging  gardens  glittering  there 
Where  sunshine  laughs  not,  and  no  dews  appear ; 
And  not  a  butterfly  pursues  its  flight, 
Giving  and  gaining  hues  more  freshly  bright. 

Behold  the  inverted  beds  of  sumptuous  flowers,— 
That  wealth  of  stony  blooms,  and  frozen  bowers, 
Those  spectral  buds,  those  sparry  branches  drear, 
That  pomp  of  floral  petrifactions  there, 
Those  ghostly  wreaths — those  braids  of  shadowy  leaves, 
Which  Nature,  as  in  stern  self-mockery,  weaves, 
Roses  and  sunflowers ;  tulips  rich,  and  bells 
Of  sumptuous  lilies,  where  no  sweetness  dwells ; 
And  sculptured  irises,  and  dahlias  pale, 
Unknown  to  spring's  bright  ray,  or  autumn's  gale, 
All  in  a  deadly  beauty  coldly  clad, 
A  funeral  pomp,  bewilderingly  sad. 

How  sweet — how  exquisite  compared  with  these, 
The  lowliest  hedge-flower,  touched  by  dew  and  breeze ! 
How  dear,  compared  with  such  stark  frigid  shows, 
The  wan  and  withered  ruins  of  a  rose, 
That  once  has  looked  on  day's  bright  star,  and  grown 
Something  that  seemed  a  stray  smile  of  his  own 
True,  'tis  most  beautiful,  most  wondrous  too, 
This  tranced — this  spell-bound  nature,  calm  and  new ; 
But  yet  this  mockery  of  earth's  heaven-born  things. 
Though  fair,  though  glorious,  but  despondence  brings. 
'Tis  like  Death's  palace  with  his  cold  white  show, 
Of  all  that  most  should  smile  with  life's  fresh  glow. 

For  me,  I  long  to  leave  these  precincts  drear, 
Shun  this  cold  gliost  of  Nature  reigning  here, 
(So  fixed,  so  fate-like,  life  and  motion  seem 
Near  this,  the  fleeting  fictions  of  a  dream), 
And  once  again  the  glad  Creation  hail, 
That  tells  with  thousand  tongues  the  eternal  tale. 


CONVERSATION  IN  A  COACH. 


Give  back  the  world  !  the  changeful  hues  and  forms, 

The  hurrying  shadows  of  its  very  storms. 

Oh !  for  a  mountain-scene  to  lift  me  now 

On  high;  as  'twere  to  climb  near  Heaven's  sweet  brow; 

Give  me  those  scenes,  fresh,  moving,  breathing,  free, 

Where  even  midst  gloom,  a  thousand  glories  be.  ^ 

And  sound,  ye  clarion-tones  of  winds,  which  make 

The  stately  forests  to  their  centres  shake ! 

Give  even  the  quivering  darkness  of  that  Night, 

Which  heaves  and  hovers  as  'twere  taking  flight! 

And  give  the  change  of  seasons  and  of  hours, 

The  strife  of  elements,  the  shock  of  powers ! 

And  life-like  shiftings,  and  awakening  signs, 

True,  quickening  tones  from  Nature's  thousand  shrines. 

Give  me,  for  these  cold  vaults,  and  these  bare  halls, 
The  glistening  smile  of  streams — the  roar  of  falls  ; 
The  startling  wonders  of  the  restless  deep, 
The  towering  headland,  and  the  cloud-capped  steep; 
Glaciers  for  stalactites,  keen  moons  for  spars, 
For  these  dull  gauds  Heaven's  galaxies  of  stars; 
Nay,  humbler  be  the  yearning,  less  the  prayer, 
Give  any  scene  of  outward  Nature  fair, 
For  th'  awful  mysteries  of  this  solemn  cave, 
Give  but  a  breath,  a  cloud,  a  flower,  a  wave ; 
For  all  the  dreadful  splendors  that  it  boasts, 
One  mirrored  ray  from  yonder  starry  hosts ! 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

A  Conversation  in  a  Coach — A  loquacious  Gentleman — The  other  Passenger 
— His  Appearance — An  American  Argument  touching  the  Potency  of 
Money  to  make  a  Gentleman — An  Exhibition  of  genuine  Feeling — A 
Kentuckian's  Notion  of  England — The  slight  Value  set  on  human  Life 
in  America — The  Duel — Pigs  paramount  in  Louisville — Herds  of  Swine 
on  the  Alleghanies — The  Hotel-Keeper  and  the  Kentucky  Cave — Danger 
attending  a  Visit  to  the  Caves. 

I  CAN  not  refrain  from  giving  a  conversation  which  I  heard  as 
we  came  by  the  coach  to  Louisville.  One  of  the  speakers  was  a 
very  agreeable  and  apparently  well-informed  gentleman,  who  seem- 
ed to  have  seen  a  great  deal  of  the  world.  When  he  first  entered 
the  "  stage,"  it  would  seem  it  was  with  the  benignant  intention 
of  giving  a  sort  of  conversazione  in  the  coach,  in  which  after  a  few 
preliminary  interrogatories  to  the  various  passengers  (as  if  to  take 
the  size  and  measure  of  their  capacities),  he  sustained  all  the 
active  part,  not  calling  upon  them  for  the  slightest  exercise  of  theii 


100  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

conversational  powers.  He  varied  the  entertainment  occasionally 
by  soliloquizing  and  monopolyloguizing ;  and  ever  and  anon  it  ap- 
peared as  if  he  addressed  the  human  race  generally,  or  was  speak- 
ing for  posterity  in  a  very  elevated  tone  indeed,  and  seemingly 
oblivious  of  that  fraction  of  the  contemporaneous  generation  who 
were  then  largely  benefiting  by  his  really  most  animated  and 
amusing  discourse — for  he  was  thoroughly  original  and  very  shrewd 
and  entertaining. 

Where  had  he  not  been  ?  What  had  he  not  seen  1  what  not 
met,  tried,  suffered,  sought,  found,  dared,  done,  won,  lost,  said? 
The  last  we  could  give  the  most  implicit  credence  to,  no  matter 
how  large  the  demand.  Now  he  told  us,  or  the  ceiling  of  the 
coach,  how  he  had  been  eighteen  months  in  the  Prairies  (which 
keep  very  open  house  for  all  visitors),  shooting  herds  of  buffaloes, 
and  with  his  cloak  for  his  only  castle,  and  all  his  household  furni- 
ture, and  how  he  had  been  all  this  time  without  bed  or  bread  : 
and  he  described  the  longing  for  the  last,  much  in  the  way  Mr. 
Ruxton  does  in  his  account  of  Prairie  excursions  ;  and  now — but 
I  will  not  attempt  to  follow  him  in  all  his  wondrous  adventures. 

Suffice  it  to  say,  Robinson  Crusoe,  placed  in  juxtaposition  with 
him,  was  a  mere  fire-side  stay-at-home  sort  of  personage,  one  who 
had  never  left  his  own  comfortable  arm-chair,  in  comparison.  In 
short,  the  adventures  were  marvelous  and  manifold,  and  all  told  in 
the  same  agreeable,  lively,  Scheherezade-like  sort  of  a  manner — so 
agreeable,  indeed,  that  I  am  sure  had  Judge  Lynch  himself  had 
any  little  account  to  settle  with  him,  he  would  have  postponed — 
a  la  Sultan  of  the  Indies — any  trifling  beheading  or  strangling,  or 
unpleasant  little  operation  of  the  sort,  to  hear  the  end  of  the  tale. 

After  these  narratives  and  amusing  lectures  had  been  poured 
forth  continuously  for  a  length  of  time,  it  chanced  that  a  quiet 
countryman-like  person  got  into  the  coach,  bundle  and  stick  in 
hand.  After  a  few  questions  to  the  rustic  wayfarer,  our  eloquent 
orator  left  off  his  historic  and  other  tales,  and  devoted  himself  to 
drawing  out,  and  "  squeezing  the  orange  of  the  brains"  of  this  ap- 
parently simple-minded  and  unlettered  man.  The  discourse  that 
ensued  was  a  singular  one — to  take  place,  too,  in  the  United  States 
between  Americans. 

The  new-comer  was  a  Kentuckian  by  birth,  who  had  not  very 
long  ago  gone  to  settle  in  Indiana.  He  called  himself  a  mechanic 
— these  facts  came  out  in  answer  to  the  queries  put  to  him  by  our 
unwearied  talker — but  he  had,  as  I  have  said,  much  more  the 
appearance  of  a  respectable  country  farming  man — and  indeed, 


NOBLE-SPIRITED  MECHANIC.  101 

I  believe,  mechanic  means  here,  in  a  general  sense,  a  laborer.  He 
seemed,  a  fine,  honest-hearted,  straight-forward,  noble-spirited  son 
of  the  plow  ;  and  his  lofty,  earnest,  generous  sentiments  were  spoken 
in  somewhat  unpolished  but  energetic  and  good  language ;  and 
what  particularly  struck  me  was  a  really  beautiful  and  almost 
child-like  simplicity  of  mind  and  manner,  that  was  combined  with 
the  most  uncompromising  firmness  and  unflinching  adherence  in 
argument,  to  what  he  conceived  to  be  right. 

His  features  were  decidedly  plain,  but  the  countenance  was  very 
fine,  chiefly  characterized  by  great  ingenuousness,  commingled  with 
gentleness  and  benevolence ;  and  yet  bearing  evident  traces  of 
strength,  determination,  and  energetic  resolution.  It  was  rather 
a  complicated  countenance,  so  to  say,  notwithstanding  its  great 
openness  and  expression  of  downright  truth  and  goodness. 

After  opening  the  conversation  with  him,  as  you  would  an  oyster, 
by  the  introduction  of  a  pretty  keen  knife  of  inquisitorial  questions, 
the  chief  speaker  began  to  hold  forth,  capriciously  enough,  on  the 
essentials  and  distinguishing  attributes  of  a  gentleman.  He  de- 
clared, emphatically,  that  one  qualification  alone  was  necessary, 
and  that  money  only  made  a  gentleman,  according  to  the  world, 
and,  above  all,  in  the  United  States  (quite  a  mistake  is  this,  I 
fully  believe).  "  Let  a  man,"  said  he,  "  be  dressed  here  in  every 
thing  of  the  best,  with  splendid  rings  on  his  fingers,  and  plenty  of 
money  to  spend  at  the  ends  of  them,  and  he  may  go  where  he  will, 
and  be  received  as  a  gentleman ;  ay,  though  he  may  be  a  gam- 
bler, a  rogue,  or  a  swindler,  and  you,  now,  you  may  be  a  good 
honest  mechanic ;  but  he  will  at  once  get  into  the  best  society  in 
these  parts,  which  you  would  never  dream  even  of  attempting  to 
accomplish — " 

"  But  he  would  not  be  a  gentleman,"  broke  in  the  Kentuckian, 
indignantly.  "  No,  sir ;  nor  will  I  ever  allow  that  money  only 
makes  the  gentleman :  it  is  the  principle,  sir,  and  the  inner  feel- 
ing, and  the  mind — and  no  fine  clothes  can  ever  make  it ;  and  no 
rough  ones  unmake  it,  that's  a  fact.  And,  sir,  there's  many  a  bet- 
ter gentleman  following  the  plow  in  these  parts  than  there  is  among 
the  richer  classes :  I  mean  those  poor  men  who' re  contented  with 
their  lot,  and  work  hard  and  try  no  mean  shifts  and  methods  to 
get  on  and  up  in  the  world ;  for  there's  little  some  'ill  stick  at  to 
get  at  money  ;  and  such  means  a  true  gentleman  (what  /  call  a 
gentleman)  will  avoid  like  pison,  and  scorn  utterly." 

"  Now  that's  all  very  well  for  you  to  talk  so  here  just  now  ;  but 
you  know  yourself,  I  don't  doubt,  that  your  own  object,  as  well  as 


102  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

all  the  world's  around  you,  is  to  make  money.  It  is  with  that 
object  that  you  work  hard  and  save  up  :  you  do  not  work  only  to 
live,  or  make  yourself  more  comfortable,  but  to  get  money :  and 
money  is  the  be-all  and  end-all  of  all  and  every  body ;  and  that 
only  commands  consideration  and  respect." 

"  That  only,  sir,  would  never  command  mine,  and — " 

"  Why,  how  you  talk  now !  if  you  meet  a  fine  dressed-out  gen- 
tleman in  one  of  these  stages,  you  look  on  him  as  one  directly — you 
don't  ask  him  did  he  'make  or  take  his  money — what's  that  to 
you  ? — there  he  is,  and  it  is  not  for  you  to  busy  or  bother  yourself 
to  find  out  all  the  private  particulars  of  his  history  ;  and  if  you 
find  him,  as  I  say,  well  dressed  in  superfine,  and  he  acts  the  gen- 
tleman to  you,  he  may  be  the  greatest  rogue  in  existence,  but  he 
will  be  treated  by  you  like  a  gentleman — yes,  even  by  you." 

"  Yes,  sir,  that  may  be  while  I  know  nothing  of  him — while  as 
you  say,  he  acts  the  gentleman  to  me ;  but  let  me  once  find  out 
what  he  is,  and  I  would  never  show  him  respect  more — no  !  though 
he  had  all  the  gold  of  California." 

"Ah,  California!  just  look  at  that  now — look  at  people  by 
scores  and  thousands,  leaving  their  families,  and  friends,  and 
homes — and  what  for  but  for  gold  ?  people  with  a  comfortable  com- 
petence already  ;  but  it's  fine  talking.  Why,  what  are  you  taking 
this  very  journey  for  ? — why,  I  can  answer  for  you — for  gold,  I 
doubt  not ;  and  every  other  action  of  your  life  is  for  that  object : 
confess  the  real  truth  now." 

"  I  will,  sir — I  am  come  here  from  Indiana,  for  though  I'm  a 
Kentucky  man,  I  live  in  the  Hoosier  State.  I'm  come  here  to  see 
a  dear  brother  ;  and  instead  of  gaining  money  I'm  spending  it  in. 
these  stages  to  get  to  see  him  and  '  old  Kentuck'  agin.  So  you  see 
sir,  I  love  my  brother — I  do  more  than  money,  poor  man  as  I  am ; 
ay,  and  that  I  do  too." 

"  Well,  I  dare  say  you  do  ;  but  come  now,  just  tell  me — 
haven't  you  a  little  bit  of  a  speculation,  now,  here,  that  you're  come 
after,  as  well  as  your  brother — some  trifle  of  a  speculation  afoot  ? 
You  know  you  have  now.  You  must  have.  Some  horse,  per- 
haps— " 

It  was  quite  delightful  to  see  and  hear  the  indignant  burst  of 
eager  denial  which  this  elicited  from  the  ingenuous  Kentuckian. 

''  No,  sir !  no,  I  have  not — none  whatever,  indeed  I  have  not :" 
his  voice  quivered  with  emotion ;  the  earnest  expression  of  his 
countenance  was  more  than  eloquent.  If  his  interrogator  had  ac- 
cused him  of  a  serious  crime  he  could  hardly  more  anxiously  and 


EXHIBITION  OF  FEELING.  103 

more  earnestly  have  disclaimed  it.  To  him,  I  thought  the  bare 
suspicion  seemed  like  a  coarse  desecration  of  his  real  motives,  a  kind 
of  undervaluing  even  of  his  "dear  brother,"  to  suppose  he  must 
have  had  a  "little  speculation  on  hand"  to  make  it  worth  his  while 
to  go  to  see  him. 

He  went  on  in  an  agitated,  eager  tone  : 

"  And  look  ye  here ;  I  am  leaving  off  my  work  and  money- 
making  for  some  days  on  purpose— only  for  that,  and  spending 
money  at  it,  too!" 

His  somewhat  case-hardened  antagonist  looked  the  least  in  the 
world  discomfited,  for  that  angry  denial  was  a  magnificent  burst, 
and  uttered  in  a  tone  that  actually  seemed  to  give  an  additional  jolt 
to  the  rough  coach  ;  and  I  might  say  it  had  really  a  splendid  thej- 
atrical  effect,  but  that  I  should  hesitate  to  use  that  expression 
with  reference  to  one  of  the  most  beautiful  natural  exhibitions  of 
deep  feeling  and  generous  sentiment  I  ever  witnessed. 

"  Where  are  you  going  to  ?"at  last  inquired  the  other,  apparently 
about  to  commence  a  little  cross-examination. 

"  About  twenty  miles  beyond  Munsfordville,"  replied  Kentucky, 
in  his  simple,  direct  manner,  "  to — "  I  forget  the  name. 

"  Why,  you're  come  by  the  wrong  stage,  then,"  exclaimed  the 
other,  "you  should  have  waited  till  to-morrow,  and  then  taken  the 
stage  to ,  and  then  you  would  have  gone  direct." 

"  Well,  yes,  sir;  it's  true  enough,  sir;  but  you  see — in  short, 
I  couldn't  wait — no,  that  I  couldn't.  I  was  so  anxious,  and  I 
felt  so  like  seeing  my  brother ;  and  I  was  in  such  a  mortal  hurry 
to  get  to  him." 

"  Hurry,  man  !  why  how  will  you  see  him  any  sooner  by  this  ? 
Why  you  might  as  well  have  walked  up  and  down  Main-street 
till  to-morrow  ;  it  would  have  advanced  you  just  as  much  on  your 
journey." 

"  You're  right,  sir,  I  know  that ;  but  I  really  couldn't  wait :  I 
wanted  to  feel  I  was  going  ahead,  and  getting  'tiearei-  my  brother 
at  any  rate ;  I  got  so  impatient-like.  No,  sir ;  I  couldn't  have 
staid  till  the  morning  any  how  you  could  fix  it." 

"  You'll  have  to  walk  for  your  folly,  for  you'll  get  no  conveyance 
this  way,  I  tell  you." 

"  I'll  have  to  walk  the  twenty  miles  to-night,  I  suppose,"  said 
Kentucky,  with  the  most  imperturbable*smiling  composure  ;  "  but 
never  mind  that !  I  shall  be  getting  near  my  brother,  then.  Ha," 
he  said,  after  a  pause,  "you  see  I  do  love  my  brother,  sir,  and  I 
don't  regard  trouble  for  him.  I'll  have  to  walk  the  twenty  miles 


104  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

to-night  with  my  bundle,  I  dare  say,  and  spending  money  at  that, 
too,  perhaps,  for  a  bit  of  food  ;  but  I  couldn't  have  waited — no ! 
not  another  hour  at  Louisville — I  felt  so  like  getting  nearer  to  my 
brother." 

At  the  end  of  the  argument  about  money-making  being  the  all 
in  all,  one  or  two  of  us  signified  briefly  that  we  thought  Kentucky 
was  right.  You  never  saw  any  body  so  surprised.  He  had  evi- 
dently entertained  a  deep  conviction  that  all  in  the  stage-coach 
were  opposed  to  his  opinions,  and  that  he  stood  alone  in  his  veiw 
on  the  matter.  He  replied  he  was  glad  any  body  thought  as  he 
did,  and  reiterated  with  strong  emphasis  to  his  opponent : 

"  I'm  sure,  sir,  I'm  right ;  it  is  the  principle,  and  the  manners, 
and  the  mind,  and  not  money  that  makes  a  gentleman.  No,  no  ; 
money  can  never  make  half  a  one." 

I  shall  feel  a  respect  for  "  old  Kentucky"  forever  after  for  his 
sake. 

This  high-hearted  fellow-passenger  of  ours  seemed  to  know  very 
little  of  any  country  but  his  own.  He  discovered  we  were  English, 
and  exclaimed — "  That  England  may  be  a  good  country,  but  I 
could  never  bear  to  live  under  a  king  :  a  man's  life  must  be  miser- 
able there  !  I  couldn't  bear  their  laws  neither." 

"  Why,  they're  pretty  nearly  the  same  as  here." 

"  You  don't  say  so  !"  exclaimed  the  other,  much  astonished ; 
for  he  seemed,  like  many  others,  to  have  an  idea  that  we  could 
not  do  any  thing,  or  move  from  any  place  to  another  without  the 
sovereign  or  the  army  giving  leave,  or,  vice  versa,  and-  condescend- 
ing to  regulate  all  our  domestic  affairs. 

After  that  true  "  Nature's  nobleman,"  the  Kentucky  "  me- 
chanic," had  vanished  from  the  scene,  the  same  gentleman  began 
talking  to  a  neighbor  in  his  loud,  clear  voice,  on  another  subject — 
the  little  value  set  on  human  life  in  the  United  States.  He  said, 

"  The  other  day,  while  I  was  at ,  two  men  had  a  quarrel," 

and  he  mentioned  their  names,  which  I  do  not  accurately  re- 
member, "  the  one  told  the  other  to  meet  him  in  the  market-place, 
and  to  prepare  his  mind ;  he  did  so,  and  a  pistol  also  :  the  other 
had  a  six-shooter  ;  they  fired,  and  neither  fell.  Then  the  one  who 
had  the  revolver  coolly  put  six  bullets  into  his  antagonist,  and  left 
him  stone  dead  ;  and  this  was  in  the  market-place  with  numbers 
assembled,  who  formed  r»und  in  a  ring,"  said  this  gentleman,  "to 
see  the  horrible  spectacle,  without  one  interfering  to  prevent  it. 
One  can  not  begin  to  imagine  how  indifferent  the  people  here  are 
to  life  in  general." 


WHIMSICAL  LANDLORD.  105 

The  talkative  gentleman  told  other  anecdotes  of  the  same 
nature,  but  one  will  be  thought  enough,  I  have  no  doubt,  though 
it  was  interesting  to  hear  them  related,  for  he  was  a  capital 
narrator,  all  life  and  spirit ;  and  one  could  not  help  paying  amused 
attention,  though,  it  must  be  confessed,  his  small  talk  was  chiefly 
of  murders,  duels,  executions,  terrific  fights  with  Indians,  encoun- 
ters with  grizzly  bears  and  such. small  deer — in  fact  conducted  on 
the  principle  of  Madame  Tussaud's  "  Chamber  of  Horrors;"  a 
kind  of  verbal  conversational  Reign  of  Terror. 

I  have  already  said  what  a  very  nice  town  Louisville  is — city, 
I  ought  to  say,  for  all  large  towns  have  that  rank  here  :  yet  one 
thing  a  little  detracts  from  its  general  appearance,  and  that  is  the 
preponderating  population  of  pigs  that  in  all  directions  perambu- 
late its  handsome  streets.  I  had  observed  this  with  surprise,  and 
was  amused  at  a  corroborative  paragraph  in  one  of  their  papers 
here  lately,  saying  that  really  the  pigs  are  becoming  masters  of 
the  place ;  they  push  the  two-legged  citizens  into  the  streets, 
occupying  the  side- walks,  and  taking  the  wall  of  them.  So  things 
begin  to  look  serious  here,  and  we  are  prepared  any  day  for  a 
pronunciamiento  of  the  pigs,  they  carry  their  snouts  so  high 
already,  and  seem  so  bristling  with  importance. 

In  crossing  the  Alleghanies  it  was  quite  a  curious  sight  to  see 
armies  of  these  animals  driven  along — a  perfect  stream  of  swine, 
rejoicing  in  all  the  fat  of  the  land,  certainly.  It  is  said  to  be  a 
wonderful  spectacle  to  see  them  slaughtered,  and  almost  as  magic- 
ally turned  into  lard  and  lard-oil,  as  if  the  latter  article  had  been 
ordered  for  Aladdin's  lamp  by  his  first  genie  gentleman-in-waiting 
and  equerry. 

I  must  not  forget  to  speak  of  a  rather  whimsical  but  thoroughly 
obliging,  hospitable,  and,  I  believe,  excellent  old  gentleman,  at 
whose  hotel  we  were  staying  on  our  way  to  and  from  the  Mam- 
moth Cave.  Singularly  enough,  he  has  lived  for  nearly  half  a 
century  within  a  few  miles  of  the  cavern,  but  never  has  visited  it. 
"  Time  enough,"  he  growled,  in  a  voice  that  might  have  sounded 
from  the  subterranean  depths  of  the  cave  itself,  and  would  have 
rumbled  at  Echo  River,  like  a  discharge  of  Satanic  artillery, 
"  Time  enough  to  go  under  ground  when  I'm  dead ;"  and  we 
almost  agreed  with  him,  after  we  had  all  gone  a-caving,  and  come 
back  feeling  so  subterraneanically  sepulchral,  and  with  such  a 
dreary  antediluvian  fossil-like  sensation,  perfectly  convinced  of  the 
hollowness  of  the  world  in  general,  and  of  Kentucky  in  particular. 
Indeed,  we  rather  envied  Mr.  Bell  his  superficial  views  and  his 

E* 


106  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

never  having  been  buried  alive,  or  trodden  underfoot  by  half  a 
quarter  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  State. 

One  of  his  female  slaves  told  me,  ladies  return  sometimes  from 
their  cave  expedition  half  dead,  and  keep  their  beds  for  "  a  many 
days,"  and  occasionally  have  received  severe  injuries  from  stum- 
bling on  the  rugged  sharp-pointed  rocks.  This  negress  was  one 
of  the  most  good-natured  beings  I  ever  met  with  :  she  voluntarily 
undertook  the  task  of  rubbing  off  from  some  of  our  clothes  the  dust 
of  the  cave  :  she  scrubbed  away  with  such  zeal  that  soon  her  arms 
became  a  sort  of  faint  cream  color,  and  her  thick  crop  of  wool  was 
so  densely  powdered  as  to  assume  the  same  tint,  together  with  her 
smiling  gentle  face.  She  appeared  to  compassionate  us  profoundly ; 
and,  perhaps,  imagining,  in  consequence  of  her  master's  prejudices 
against  that  mighty  cave,  that  no  one  of  their  own  free  will  would 
visit  such  a  dreadful  place  (to  come  back  in  such  a  fearful  plight), 
she  appeared  to  entertain  an  opinion  that  travelers  in  general 
had  to  go  through  this  ordeal ;  and,  peradventure,  were  thus  nat- 
uralized and  made  real  children  of  the  soil,  after  carrying  so  much 
of  it  away  about  their  persons  and  habiliments.  The  claim  would 
be  well  grounded,  at  any  rate. 

Mr.  B ,  the  English  gentleman  who  visited  the  cave  at 

the  same  time  we  did,  has  just  arrived  here  :  he  called  a  little 
while  ago  and  told  me  that  a  poor  young  lady,  who  was  very  ill 
at  the  Cave  Hotel  while  we  were  there,  died  the  day  before  he 
came  away.  She  had  caught  cold  in  coming  out  of  the  cave  only 
a  few  days  before,  after  being  much  overheated  by  walking  there, 
and  neglecting  to  put  on  a  shawl :  inflammation  came  on,  and  she 
had  thus  fallen  a  victim  to  this  slight  imprudence. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

The  Steamer  from  Louisville — The  Passengers — The  Lady  in  the  Turban, 
and  her  refractory  Charges — A  Family  of  another  Description — The 
Liliputian  Listen  and  his  Model  Grandmamma — The  Sonnambula  of  a 
Stewardess — St.  Louis — Ravages  of  the  Cholera  in  that  City — Rapid 
Growth  of  St.  Louis — Vast  Number  of  German  Immigrants — Progress  of 
American  Civilization — Prairie  Hunting — Frequency  of  Steamboat  Acci- 
dents on  the  Mississippi. 

WE  left  Louisville  in  a  steamer  with  rather  indifferent  accom- 
modations, but  commanded  by  a  most  obliging  and  courteous  cap- 
tain. There  were  several  families  on  board,  who  were  removing 
to  remote  parts  of  the  Union  ;  slaves,  children,  chattels,  cattle,  ac- 
companied them ;  they  were,  in  short,  domestic  Atlases  carrying 
their  own  little  world  on  their  shoulders — farther  west  of  course — 
which  is  quite  the  way  of  the  world  hereabouts. 

This  was  one  of  the  very  roughest  sets  I  had  ever  been  among. 
They  lived  entirely  with  the  first-class  passengers,  so  no  doubt 
they  had  paid  first-class  price.  Some  were  from  the  heart  of  old 
Kentucky,  and  none  of  them  were  emigrants  ;  they  all  comported 
themselves  very  quietly  and  well,  except  one  family  of  children, 
belonging  to  some  hard-working  back-woodsman,  to  judge  from  ap- 
pearances. They  were  awfully  spoilt,  and  led  their  parents  mis- 
erable lives  ;  scratching  and  beating  their  mother,  and  boxing  the 
ears  and  kicking  the  shins  of  their  (little)  respected  papa,  and 
knocking  cruelly  about  the  only  person  in  the  family  who  had  the 
sense  to  control  the  imps  a  little,  in  the  shape  of  a  gaunt  tall 
grandmamma,  resembling  a  retired  grenadier,  "  in"  a  turban,  with 
a  short  pipe — the  last  evidently  the  consolation  of  her  soul,  and 
the  former  ingeniously  constructed  of  some  light-colored  hand- 
kerchief, or  handkerchiefs,  and  apparently  built  upon  her  head 
by  her  own  hands,  in  a  fantastic  fashion,  having  a  little  appear- 
ance of  a  fortification  for  defensive  purposes,  which  was  rendered, 
necessary  by  the  violent  attacks  of  the  undutiful  brats  before 
alluded  to.  Had  it  not  been  erected  with  considerable  engineering 
skill,  this  poor  rustic  Cybele  with  her  tower-like  turban  would 
have  been  left  defenseless  and  bareheaded  by  these  little  furies. 

She  was  wont  to  confide  to  me  her  troubles  on  this  head — enough 
to  have  turned  her  head  and  turban  too,  besides  other  subjects  that 
"worrited"  her  "pretty  considerable."  We  were  great  "friends 


109  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

together,"  and  she  was  quite  benignant  and  patronizing  in  her 
manner  toward  me.  Sometimes  (smoking  her  short  pipe  the 
while)  marching  up  to  me  and  laying  her  huge  heavy  hand  on  my 
shoulder,  she  would  exclaim,  "  Wai,  them  children  of  ourn  are 
bad  children— mighty  bad,  mighty  bad ;  it  wears  and  worrits  a 
body,  I  guess,  properly :  and,  my  !  I  feel  so  skeary-like  too,  for 
I've  never  been  aboard  one  of  these  steaming  boats,  nor  never  seen 
one  afore." 

This  surprised  me  "  considerable,"  for  I  should  have  thought  no 
one  could  live  in  the  States  without  seeing  them.  This  I  ex- 
pressed. 

"  No,  I  haint ;  where  I  live  to  home,  these  don't  come  none  on 
'em ;  and  they're  mighty  queer  boats,  I  guess,  and  I  don't  like 
them,  and  feel  proper  skeary,  too,  aboard  on  'em." 

Then  she  pensively  puffed  away  at  the  short  pipe,  till  the  roar 
ing  of  some  of  those  young  rebels  demanded  her  presence  as  "head 
pacificator ;"  when,  telling  me  (to  console  me  for  her  temporary 
absence)  she  should  soon  be  back,  she,  and  pipe,  and  turban,  would 
vanish  for  a  while  in  the  distance.  For  the  benefit  of  those  who 
like  to  study  various  fashions  of  dress,  I  may  as  well  remark  that 
the  attire  of  this  worthy  dame,  altogether  was  a  costume  somewhat 
resembling  the  war-dress  of  Abd-el-Kader,  engrafted  on  the  pacific 
garments  of  a  Dutch  skipper's  wife ;  but  no  description  can  do  it 
justice. 

I  took  quite  a  liking  to  the  worthy  soul,  and  pitied  her  much 
for  being,  as  she  was  alternately,  a  sufferer  from  "  skearyness,"  and 
from  the  kicks  and  cuffs  of  those  insubordinate  grandchildren  of 
hers.  But  occasionally  she  would  make  a  dash  at  -them,  like  a 
charge  of  Napoleon's  Old  Guard,  and  retire,  crowned  with  victory, 
to  smoke  the  short  pipe  of  peace.  On  one  particular  day  several 
pitched  battles  were  obstinately  fought,  besides  numerous  slight 
skirmishes.  The  intrepidity  of  grandmamma,  the  Invincible,  and 
her  desperate  charges,  ultimately  won,  however,  the  field,  and 
decided  the  war  in  favor  of  the  party  of  order ;  but  the  squalling, 
kicking,  biting,  and  scratching,  were  alarmingly  vehement.  The 
passengers  in  general  preserved  a  sort  of  armed  neutrality,  pre- 
pared, however,  if  the  disorderly  little  enemy  attacked  them,  to 
drive  them  back  ignominiously  with  umbrellas,  parasols,  canes,  and 
other  weapons  of  the  kind. 

There  was  another  rather  large  family  on  board,  the  very  anti- 
podes of  these,  utterly  unlike  them  in  class,  manners,  appearance, 
every  thing.  The  mother  was  a  lovely  Spanish-looking  lady,  with 


AN  AMIABLE  FAMILY.  109 

beautiful  jet-black  hair,  and  delicate  regular  features  :  she  was 
exquisitely  but  simply  dressed,  and  a  Spanish  mantilla  of  black 
lace  depended,  with  exceeding  grace,  from  her  small  statuesque 
head.  Her  voice  was  "  sweet  and  low — an  excellent  thing  in 
woman,"  especially  on  board  a  crowded  steamboat,  where  there  is 
always  a  hurricane  of  noises.  And  what  a  refreshing  contrast  it 
was  to  that  sheikh-like  dame's  tones,  which  would  have  drowned 
the  town  crier's. 

The  eldest  child  of  this  family,  a  little  girl,  was  one  of  the  love- 
liest children  I  ever  saw,  and  with  very  charming  and  pleasing 
manners,  neither  loud  nor  forward,  nor  too  shy  nor  too  bold — just 
what  a  child  of  her  age  should  be,  and  like  a  child — which  is  not 
always  the  case  here.  The  youngest  child  was  one  of  the  dearest 
little  pets  I  ever  saw :  he  was  about  three  or  four  years  old,  and  a 
perfect  embodiment  of  fun,  mischief,  and  merriment — the  very  soul 
of  sauciness  and  drollery — an  infantine  Polichinello,  a  baby  Flib- 
bertigibert,  with  such  endless  quips  and  cranks  and  "  mops  and 
mows," — methinks  such  a  comical  little  darling  Scaramouch  was 
never  beheld  before !  He  seemed  a  duodecimo  Grimaldi,  a  Lili- 
putian  Listen.  He  was  like  a  supply  of  laughing-gas  to  the  whole 
cabin,  but  he  seldom  laughed  himself.  There  was  a  sort  of  quiet, 
profound  intensity  of  fun  difiused  over  his  whole  childish  counte- 
nance and  figure,  that  was  irresistibly  comic  ;  his  eye,  cheek,  nose, 
chin,  seemed  all  twinkling  and  winking  together,  and  he  had  a 
little  way  of  putting  on  a  despairing  look  of  mock  pathos,  that  was 
marvelously  amusing. 

His  usual  dress  was  a  sort  of  tiny  blouse  ;  but,  the  morning  of 
his  departure  he  was  attired  in  a  kind  of  microscopic  pea-jacket 
(he  was  a  very  small  child),  with  a  mighty  knowing-looking  hat, 
stuck  jauntily  on  the  side  of  his  unspeakably  comical  little  noddle ; 
and,  as  he  strutted  up  and  down  the  cabin,  with  his  infinitesimal 
little  "pattes"  stuck  in  the  pockets,  or  the  wee  short  arms  a-kimbo, 
it  was  "  impayable"  indeed. 

The  grandmamma  in  this  family  was  quite  a  model  grand- 
mamma. She  must  have  been  a  person  of  the  most  wonderful 
force  of  character,  and  of  remarkable  greatness  of  mind ;  some- 
thing (not  in  person)  like  the  strong-minded  Madame  Mere.  It 
will  seem  incredible,  but  she  actually  did  not  spoil  little  George ! 
I  have  even  seen  her  look  grave  when  thinking,  perhaps,  he  was 
verging  on  the  bounds  of  pertness,  or  exhibiting  signs  of  incipient 
insubordination — grave  and  remonstrant,  when  every  one  was 
convulsed  with  laughter  round  her. 


lie  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

But  she  was  a  model  grandmamma  in  other  ways  too  :  such 
care  of  the  children  as  she  took  ;  so  nicely  she  made  them  behave ; 
and  on  the  morning  of  their  disembarkation,  at  a  place  whose 
name  has  slipped  my  memory,  she  shone  forth  in  full  glory.  It 
appeared  they  had  expected  to  arrive  very  early  indeed  at  this 
place,  but,  owing  to  a  fog  coming  on  they  did  not.  Well,  np  she 
got  in  the  dark,  and  dressed  herself  as  neatly  as  ever,  and  then  she 
lighted  the  fire — for  the  colored  stewardess  in  this  steamer  hap- 
pened to  be  particularly  lazy,  and,  I  believe,  also,  poor  woman, 
she  had  a  great  deal  to  do.  Then  the  active  old  lady  called  all 
the  children,  and  dressed  that  darling  little  monkey,  George,  and 
helped  the  other  children  to  dress — poor  little  things !  all  half- 
asleep  ;  and  called  her  daughter  (in  vain,  and  no  wonder  at  that 
hour  of  the  morning).  She  then  gave  the  youthful  travelers  some 
biscuits  for  their  breakfast,  and  next  began,  most  sedulously,  to 
pack  about  two  dozen  carpet-bags  and  a  score  of  boxes,  while  the 
stewardess  went  slowly  somnambulizing  about,  laboriously  yawn- 
ing, stretching  herself  industriously,  and  diligently  doing  nothing. 

How  so  evidently  superior  a  family  came  to  be  without  servants, 
I  know  not ;  probably  they  preferred  traveling  independently 
without  them.  So  it  seemed,  at  all  events.  Little  George's  de- 
parture was  universally  regretted ;  he  left  quite  a  broken-hearted 
boat  behind  him. 

This  same  sonnambula  of  a  stewardess  was  a  very  handsome 
person.  Her  mouth  was  too  wide,  but,  excepting  this  defect,  her 
features  were  very  fine  ;  her  eyes  magnificently  large,  reminding 
me  a  little,  both  by  their  size  and  lustre,  and  their  languid  expres- 
sion, of  the  great  dark  orbs  of  the  women  at  Constantinople.  She 
had  a  straight  classical  line  of  nose.  I  think  she  must  have  been  a 
Quadroon,  from  descriptions  I  have  read  of  their  personal  appear- 
ance. Her  hair  had  not  the  slightest  wooliness  or  even  curl  about 
it :  it  was  very  black,  and  parted  in  the  straightest  possible  bands 
on  her  forehead.  But  there  was  a  whisper  in  the  boat,  that  these 
Madonna-wreathed  bands  on  the  fine  forehead  of  the  Sultana-like 
stewardess  were  not  of  native  growth ;  that,  in  short,  her  own 
hair  being  afflicted  with  a  ripple,  or  a  frizzly  infirmity,  she  wore 
a  wig.  If  I  was  required  to  make  affidavit  of  the  fact,  I  really 
could  not,  and  am  rather  disposed  to  doubt  its  being  a  fact  at  all. 
This  languid  and  somewhat  indolent  stewardess  was  an  exception 
to  the  general  rule.  They  are  usually  a  most  active,  obliging, 
quick,  and  attentive  set  of  people,  and  perform  their  duties  ad- 
mirably. 


ST.  LOUIS.  Ill 

We  find  it  very  cold  at  St.  Louis,  but  we  are  in  a  very  comfort- 
able hotel  (Monroe  House),  the  rooms  of  which  are  kept  delight- 
fully warm.  It  will  doubtless  be  known  in  England  how  dread- 
fully this  large,  busy,  noble  city  suffered  lately  from  fire  and 
cholera ;  the  last  almost  depopulated  the  city  for  a  time.  A  third 
of  the  inhabitants  were  carried  off  by  the  pestilence ;  and  great 
numbers  fled  in  dismay,  panic-stricken,  with  their  families,  to 
settle  in  other  and,  as  they  thought,  less  dangerous  localities.  I 
was  told  here,  the  other  day,  that  though  it  is  only  a  short  time 
since  this  appalling  affliction  had  befallen  the  city,  yet  so  great 
had  been  the  influx  of  emigrants,  that  the  gap  which  had  been 
made  by  cholera  was  quite  filled  up.  "  So,"  added  my  informant, 
with  not  uncharacteristic  indifference,  "  the  dead  are  not  at  all 
missed  ;  not  in  the  least,  you  see." 

Merrily  were  huge  houses  going  up  in  all  directions.  From 
our  hotel  windows  we  had  a  long  view  of  gigantic,  and  gigantic- 
ally-growing-up  dwellings,  that  seemed  every  morning  to  be  about 
a  story  higher  than  we  left  them  on  the  preceding  night :  as  if 
they  slept  during  the  night  on  guano,  like  the  small  boy  in  the 
American  tale,  who  reposed  on  a  field  covered  by  it,  and  whose 
father,  on  seeking  him  the  following  day,  found  a  gawky  gentle- 
man of  eight  feet  high,  bearing  a  strong  resemblance  to  a  Patago- 
nian  walking-stick. 

This  city  is  considered  the  commercial  emporium  of  the  West : 
it  is  not  the  capital  of  Missouri  (Jefferson  City  claims  that  honor), 
but  is  the  largest  city  in  the  State.  It  was  founded  by  the  French 
in  1764  ;  for  a  long  time  it  was  little  more  than  a  village  ;  it  is 
now  an  immense  and  fast-spreading  city.  There  are  a  good  many 
(American)  French  still  resident  here,  and  a  great  number  of 
Germans.  They  tell  me  the  German  immigration  this  last  year 
has  been  truly  enormous.  A  gentleman  observed  the  other  day, 
the  Germans,  or  the  "  Dutch,"  as  he  called  them,  are  "  eating  up 
the  West,"  and  sometimes  driving  the  Americans  out  of  their  own 
towns.  "  The  greater  part  of  the  West,"  he  said,  "  will  actually 
be  in  their  hands  soon." 

This  is  the  chief  depot  of  the  Great  American  Fur  Company. 

We  are  going  to  try  and  see  a  prairie.  The  Looking-glass 
Prairie,  I  fear,  is  too  far  off  to  attempt  to  go  to  in  this  cold,  bleak, 
unpropitious  weather ;  and  I  am  much  afraid  there  is  none  near 
enough  ;  for  civilization  hereabouts  walks  with  no  mincing,  grace- 
ful, dancing-master-like  steps,  but  great,  seven-league  boots,  and 
sprawling,  earth-shaking  strides,  and  goes  swinging  along  at  such 


112  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

a  pace  that  it  is  all  the  horizon  can  do  to  get  out  of  her  way  in 
time,  and  if  once  she  caught  it  napping,  it  might  go  very  hard 
with  it. 

I  shall  not  try  to  embark  on  the  great  Grass  Sea  to-day ;  be- 
sides, from  what  I  hear  of  the  extent  to  which  inclosing  has  been 
carried  on  this  year,  I  doubt  much  if  even  the  Looking-Glass 
Prairie  has  escaped  being  framed  in,  and  broken  up  into  small 
pieces. 

We  were  a  long  while  getting  here  from  Louisville,  in  the 
steamer;  very  nearly  as  long  as  we  were  crossing  the  Atlantic  to 
New  York.  The  nights  and  mornings  were  generally  very  foggy, 
and  the  captain  appeared  to  have  an  amiable,  unusual  weakness 
in  favor  of  that  trifle,  called  human  life :  a  pleasant  trifle  enough 
sometimes.  Ah,  if  some  of  the  poor  victims  of  fast  boats  and  reck- 
less competition  could  make  their  voices  heard,  would  they  not 
seem  to  parody  that  well-known  refrain,  that  brief  speech,  "  I'll 
thank  you  for  that  trifle,  Uncle  Sam  !"  Particularly  careful  was 
the  good  captain  of  the  good  steamboat  Hindoo,  and  we  had  not  a 
single  accident  of  any  sort  or  kind  all  the  way  to  St.  Louis ;  and 
it  is  a  very  difficult  navigation ;  for  the  Mississippi,  sullen  and 
sober  as  it  looks,  is  one  of  the  most  variable  of  rivers.  Its  sand- 
banks are  perpetually  shifting,  and  then  there  are  the  "  snags  and 
sawyers."  In  the  papers  you  will  often  see  whole  columns,  headed, 
"  Snagged,"  containing  a  -melancholy  list  of  boats  that  have  had 
that  unpleasant  and  unnecessary  operation  gratuitously  performed 
upon  them  :  frequently  they  are  materially  damaged.  Then  fol- 
lows, sometimes,  a  list  of  "  boilers  burst."  There  has  just  arrived 
news  of  a  tremendous  explosion  on  board  a  new  and  magnificent 
steamer,  "  The  Louisiana."  Hundreds  of  lives  are  said  to  be  lost. 
But  this  does  not  alarm  me  in  connection  with  my  projected  voy- 
age to  New  Orleans.  I  think  the  safest  time  is  always  direct- 
ly after  a  great  accident,  for  people  are  naturally  just  then  more 
careful. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

The  Mississippi — Its  Impression  upon  the  Author — Its  Banks — The  im- 
mense Forests  seen  from  it — Its  varied  Scenery — The  Mississippi  by 
Night — Hosts  of  floating  Trees — Steamer  "snagged" — Visit  to  the 
late  President's  Cotton  Plantation — His  Slaves — Interesting  Negro  Chil- 
dren— Shanty  of  Mr.  Taylor,  the  President's  Son — An  aged  Slave — His 
extreme  Politeness  —  The  black  Valet  of  Mr.  Taylor — The  immediate 
Slave  Abolition  Question — Instances  of  Ill-Treatment  of  Slaves — Persecu- 
tion of  Mosquitoes. 

I  AM  now  at  New  Orleans.  We  have  had  a  most  successful 
and  enchanting  tour,  and  our  late  voyage  I  found  extremely  inter- 
esting. 

I  have  been  most  agreeably  disappointed  with  the  Mississippi, 
which  has,  in  general,  the  reputation  of  being  monotonous  and 
wearisome  from  its  usually  flat  banks,  and  long  lines  of  almost  in- 
terminable, dense,  unvarying  forests.  I  am,  on,  the  contrary,  quite 
delighted  with  it,  and  watched  and  gazed  on  it,  day  after  day,  and 
hour  after  hour,  with  ever-newly  kindling  interest  and  admiration. 
These  very  forests  themselves  were  to  me  sources  of  ever-fresh 
wonder,  and  the  mighty  current  of  that  marvelous  river,  sweep- 
ing on  like  the  flow  of  unpausing  Time,  carrying  all  before  it,  I 
thought  sublimity  itself. 

That  the  banks  are  flat  for  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  miles,  I 
own ;  but  those  forests  are  so  grand,  so  boundless — the  breadth  of 
that  astounding  river  is  so  imposing — its  bends  and  curves  so  glo- 
rious and  beautiful — that  I  could  not  find  it  at  all  monotonous. 
And  then  its  islands,  creeks,  bays,  branches,  and  reaches,  are  so 
numerous  and  interesting,  and  its  many  magnificent  tributaries  are 
so  diversified  and  so  splendid,  that  it  did  not  seem  to  me  in  the 
least  degree  wearisome  or  dull. 

Besides  these,  there  is  the  busy  hum  of  life  at  various  places  on 
the  shores.  The  landing-places,  wharves,  the  plantations  (toward 
the  south),  the  rising  and  risen  villages  and  towns,  the  scattered 
huts  of  the  wood-cutters,  the  long  rows  of  slaves'  habitations  (called 
"  quarters"),  and  all  the  openings — the  clearings  in  the  old  mighty 
woods,  where  the  settlers'  cottages  are  cheerfully  sending  up  their 
blue  smoke  to  the  sky,  the  germs,  probably,  of  future  mighty  cities 
— and  then  those  innumerable  flat-boats  and  rafts  with  small  ham- 
lets of  houses  on  them,  some  wearing  the  look  of  a  little  nautical 


114  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

village  ;  and  all  kinds  of  strange  craft,  from  the  roughest  and 
rudest,  that  almost  look  as  if  the  "  snags"  and  "  sawyers"  had 
determined  to  join  company,  and  had  linked  themselves  by  some 
natural  process  together — to  the  magnificent  steamer  "  Autocrat" 
— one  of  those  "  floating  steam-palaces,"  which  look  really  like 
some  of  the  wondrous  fleeting  creations  one  sees  every  now  and 
then  in  the  clouds.  This  "  Autocrat,"  they  say,  is  the  largest 
steamer  on  the  Mississippi,  and  is  about  four  hundred  feet  long, 
and  gorgeous  as  an  enchanted  castle  inside.  The  one  we  came  in 
to  this  place  was  nearly  that  length,  and  decorated  with  costly 
magnificence.  And  then  there  are  the  poor  trees,  twisting  and 
twirling,  and  tossing  about  in  the  rapid  stream  (sometimes  roots 
uppermost),  which  form  the  dreaded  "  snags"  and  "  sawyers"  of 
the  Mississippi  voyagers ;  and  the  countless  flights  of  birds  that 
frequently  make  the  air  alive  with  their  myriads  of  hurrying  wings, 
sometimes  looking  like  the  moving  folds  of  gigantic  serpents. 

How,  then,  can  these  stirring  and  wondrous  scenes  be  insipid  ? 
They  are  certainly  not ;  and  I  think  any  one  who  can  find  it  mo- 
notonous and  tiresome  (unless  they  had  pictured  to  themselves  a 
totally  different  scene,  and  expected  a  sort  of  exaggerated  Rhine, 
or  magnified  blue  Guadalquiver),  must  be  somewhat  devoid  of 
heart,  mind,  and  imagination,  and  especially  the  first  time  that 
one  steams  down  it.  I  can  imagine  it  might  become  a  little  tedi- 
ous, a  little  wearisome  or  so,  the  one-and-twentieth  voyage  or 
thereabouts  ;  but  the  first  time  !  I  can  not  comprehend  it.  No  ! 
the  first  time  it  is  all  change,  wonder,  novelty,  matter  for  specula- 
tion and  food  for  reflection,  an  object  of  ceaseless  interest,  and  of 
ever-recurring  astonishment  and  admiration.  We  saw  it  under  a 
vast  variety  of  aspects  and  change  of  climate,  and  even  seasons ; 
and  often  did  its  whole  appearance  seem  altered.  The  captain  of 
one  of  the  steamboats  observed  to  me,  the  other  day,  that  after 
long  years  spent  in  navigating  that  wondrous  river,  he  could  truly 
say  he  "  had  never  seen  it  in  any  two  voyages  alike."  There  are 
so  many  different  "  stages"  of  water — the  banks  are  so  perpet- 
ually changing,  the  sand-bars  are  so  incessantly  shifting  their  posi- 
tion, besides  other  alterations,  that  I  could  indeed  readily  believe 
him. 

I  have  seen  it  up  in  the  northwest,  amid  snow,  hail,  ice,  rain, 
and  clouds,  and  storm,  and  in  the  burning  sunshine  of  the  south, 
and  under  its  clear  and  unshadowed  skies,  by  night  and  by  day,  in 
the  gale  and  in  the  calm,  flowing  through  its  almost  interminable 
mighty  wilderness  of  forest  in  solitary  grandeur,  or  watering  a 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  BY  NIGHT.  115 

thousand  teeming  plantations  with  its  turbid  swelling  waves,  re- 
ceiving its  splendid  tributaries  (the  Ohio,  Arkansas  River,  &c.)  as 
if  they  were  so  many  dew-drops,  and  sweeping  on  as  if  with  a 
magnificent  unconcern  and  disdainful  indifference,  apparently  whol- 
ly unaltered  and  unaffected  by  these  immense  and  majestic  acces- 
sories to  its  might  and  greatness. 

The  breadth  of  this  ever-broad  river  is  scarcely  visibly  changed, 
though  the  depth  is  of  course  very  often  greatly  increased,  as 
stream  after  stream  rolls  into  its  great  waters.  In  the  very  ab- 
sence of  change  here,  is  there  not  something  sublime  ?  In  every 
way  it  is  unlike  every  other  river  I  ever  saw,  and  appears  to  be  a 
sort  of  molten  flowing  world  in  itself. 

By  night  the  scene  is  one  of  startling  interest  and  of  magical 
splendor.  Hundreds  of  lights  are  glancing  in  different  directions, 
from  the  villages,  towns,  farms,  and  plantations  on  shore,  and 
from  the  magnificent  "  floating-palaces"  of  steamers,  that  fre- 
quently look  like  moving  mountains  of  light  and  flame,  so  brill- 
iantly are  these  enormous  river-leviathans  illuminated,  outside  and 
inside.  Indeed,  the  spectacle  presented  is  like  a  dream  of  enchant- 
ment. Imagine  steamer  after  steamer  coming  sweeping,  sounding, 
thundering  on,  blazing  with  these  thousands  of  lights,  casting  long 
brilliant  reflections  on  the  fast-rolling  waters  beneath  ;  (there  is 
often  a  number  of  them,  one  after  the  other — like  so  many  comets 
in  Indian  file  !)  Some  of  them  are  so  marvelously  and  dazzlingly 
lighted,  they  really  look  like  Aladdin's  palace  on  fire  (which  it  in 
all  likelihood  would  be  in  America),  sent  skurrying  and  dashing 
down  the  stream,  while,  perhaps,  just  then  all  else  is  darkness 
around  it. 

I  delighted,  too,  in  seeing,  as  you  very  frequently  do,  the  twink- 
ling lights  in  the  numerous  cottages  and  homesteads,  dotted  here 
and  there ;  and  you  may  often  observe  large  wood-fires  lit  on  the 
banks,  looking  like  merry-making  bonfires.  These,  I  believe,  are 
usually  signals  for  the  different  steamers  to  stop  to  take  up  pas- 
sengers, goods,  and  animals.  I  recollect,  on  one  occasion,  our  cap- 
tain was  hard-hearted  :  the  steamer  was  overflowing  with  passen- 
gers already,  and  continued  on  her  course,  notwithstanding  there 
was  a  perfect  conflagration  for  a  signal  on  shore,  to  induce  him  to 
pause.  There  must  have  been  some  person  or  persons  extraordi- 
narily anxious  to  be  taken  up,  for  the  hubbub  made  on  shore  was 
surprising  :  there  were  furious  shouts,  waving  of  hats,  a  hurricane 
of  cries  and  gesticulations,  and  people  running  with  great  perse- 
verance along  the  banks,  yelling  and  squalling  like  maniacs.  In 


116  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

vain — on  we  went,  and  our  imaginations  might  fill  up  this  mys- 
terious outline  of  circumstances  as  they  pleased.  For  me,  I  felt 
sure  cotton  was  at  the  bottom  of  it,  somehow. 

I  heard,  however,  afterward,  that  there  had  been  lately  bands 
of  disorderly  emigrants,  who  had  got  taken  on  board  the  steamers 
thereabouts,  and  who  had  made  themselves  very  disagreeable  com- 
pany while  on  board,  and  yet  who  thought  the  benefit  of  their 
society  was  sufficient  payment  for  their  passage.  Some  of  these 
gentry  were  probably  the  bawlers  and  bonfire-makers  we  had  left 
behind  us,  stamping  and  handkerchief-hoisting. 

It  is  quite  curious  to  see  the  hosts  of  floating  trees,  agitated  and 
restless,  and  ever-tossing  about  in  the  rapid  current,  and  occasion- 
ally rolling  and  writhing  in  a  little  whirlpool.  They  look  some- 
times like  a  hundred  sea-serpents  at  a  blow  !  Who  could  believe 
that  birds  had  ever  built  and  sung  in  their  branches  ?  or  that  they 
ever  were  appareled  in  the  sweet  livery  of  spring  1  they  have  be- 
come such  black,  mummified  monsters,  and  look  so  hideous  and 
forlorn,  drifting  helplessly  along,  in  the  giant  steam. 

We  were  badly  "snagged"  twice.  Once  was  really  a  very 
severe  snagging,  though  we  survived  it  ;  but  I  assure  you  the 
shock  might  give  one  a  faint  idea  of  being  blown  up.  The  first 
time  a  large  tree  was  stuck  in  such  a  manner  through  the  left 
paddle-box  that  the  wheel  couldn't  move,  and  a  great  deal  of  delay 
was  occasioned  by  our  having  to  stop  for  the  hands  to  extricate 
the  wheel  from  its  disabling  situation. 

The  most  serious  of  all  our  snaggings  (for  we  were  favored  with 
a  great  variety  of  samples)  was  once  in  the  night.  We  were 
asleep  in  our  cabins,  when  we  were  suddenly  woke  up  by  an  im- 
mense stunning  shock,  and  the  steamer  stopped  immediately,  quiv- 
ering, so  to  say,  in  every  nerve  of  her  huge  body.  There  were  a 
great  number  of  horses  and  mules  on  board,  and  they  became 
dreadfully  frightened,  and  commenced  rearing,  kicking,  plunging 
and  snorting  furiously,  and  the  noise  and  uproar  really,  altogether, 
sounded  most  frightful  for  a  time — for,  of  course,  there  was  no  lack 
of  shouting,  yelling,  and  rushing  backward  and  forward.  After  a 
little  while,  on  went  the  powerful  steamer  again,  plunging  through 
the  thick  darkness  with  the  great  blunt  arrow  that  had  struck  her 
so  sorely,  fast  in  her  poor  wounded  side  ;  but,  this  time,  it  had  just 
missed  the  wheel. 

Another  snag  subsequently  hit  her  in  the  opposite  side ;  but  the 
wheel  fortunately  escaped  that  also  ;  so  away  she  went,  something 
like  a  savago  belle,  of  whom  I  have  lately  read,  with  wooden 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  COTTON  PLANTATION.  117 

skewers  in  her  two  ears.  When  morning  came,  eager  was  the 
rush  of  all  to  see  the  extent  of  the  damage  inflicted.  There  stuck 
the  grim  snag  right  through  the  paddle-box,  as  fixed  as  fate,  and 
there  we  left  it  when  we  left  the  steamer.  I  believe,  however,  it 
was  then  in  process  of  extraction. 

Besides  these  very  severe  hurts,  the  unfortunate  steamer  suffered 
a  long  succession  of  bumps  and  thumps  (as  well  as  her  passengers) 
from  a  whole  series  of  snags,  almost  through  the  whole  night. 
They  would  not  let  one  repose  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  together  in 
peace.  The  vessel  went,  jarring  and  jumping  along  in  as  disa- 
greeable a  manner  as  it  is  well  possible  to  imagine ;  very  much  as 
if  she  was  playing  at  leap-frog,  or  hopping  on  one  paddle  for  a 
wager.  The  poor  mules  and  horses  uttered  a  most  vigorous  kick- 
ing protest  against  such  rough  treatment,  and  that  additional  hub- 
bub did  not  improve  the  quiet  or  comfort  of  the  bipeds. 

I  was  very  glad  when  we  arrived  at  Natchez  (built,  I  suppose, 
on  the  scene  of  Chateaubriand's  lovely  work  "  Les  Natchez"). 
From  thence  we  availed  ourselves  of  the  President's  kind  invita- 
tion, to  go  and  see  his  cotton  plantation,  and  it  was  a  truly  inter- 
esting sight  to  us. 

The  late  President's  son  was  there,  and  received  us  with  the 
kindest  hospitality.  The  slaves  were  mustered  and  marshaled  for 
us  to  see  ;  cotton  was  picked  from  the  few  plants  that  had  sur- 
vived the  late  terrible  overflowing  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  the  in- 
terior of  one  of  the  slaves'  houses  was  exhibited  to  us.  As  to  the 
slaves  themselves,  they  were  as  well  fed,  comfortably  clothed,  and 
kindly  cared  for  in  every  way  as  possible,  and  seemed  thoroughly 
happy  and  contented.  The  dwelling-house  we  went  to  look  at 
was  extremely  nice  :  it  was  a  most  tastefully  decorated  and  an 
excellently  furnished  one  ;  the  walls  were  covered  with  prints,  and 
it  was  scrupulously  clean  and  neat. 

V expressed  a  great  wish  to  see  some  of  the  small  sable  fry, 

and  a  whole  regiment  of  little  robust,  rotund,  black  babies  were 
forthwith  paraded  for  her  especial  amusement :  it  was  a  very  or- 
derly little  assemblage,  and  it  can  not  be  imagined  how  nice  and 
clean  they  all  looked.  Such  a  congregation  of  little  smiling,  good- 
natured,  raven  roly-polies,  I  never  saw  collected  "together  before. 
One  perfect  duck  of  a  child  was  only  about  three  weeks  old,  but  it 
comported  itself  quite  in  as  orderly  a  manner  as  the  rest — as  if  it 
had  been  used  to  give  parties  and  assemblies,  and  receive  any 
quantity  of  company,  from  every  nation  on  earth,  all  its  days,  or 
rather  hours.  It  was  as  black  as  a  little  image  carved  in  polished 


118  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

ebony,  and  as  plump  as  a  partridge  (in  mourning).  These  pitchy- 
colored  piccaninnies  differed  from  white  children  in  one  essential 
particular,  for  they  were  all  perfectly  quiet  and  silent ;  all  wide 
awake,  but  all  still  and  smiling. 

After  the  main  body  had  departed  a  small  straggler  was  brought 
in  (whose  mother,  perhaps,  had  lavished  additional  cares  upon  its 
state  toilet) ;  and  it  alone,  apparently  alarmed  at  finding  itself 
thus  unsupported  and  insulated,  testified  its  disapprobation  at  the 
presence  of  English  visitors  by  a  very  mild  squall.  We  saw  an 
older  child  afterward,  who  was  very  nearly  white,  with  lovely 
features  and  fair  hair ;  the  mother  was  a  mulatto,  and  the  father 
almost  white. 

V was  delighted  with  the  whole  company  of  little  inky 

imps  from  first  to  last,  nursing  and  fondling  them  in  high  glee  ; 
and  it  may  be  readily  conceived  that  the  mothers  stood  by  equally 
enchanted  at  having  their  little  darkies  so  appreciated — and  not  a 
little  proud ;  showing  their  splendid  glittering  teeth  almost  from 
ear  to  ear. 

All  the  slaves  were  evidently  taken  the  kindest  care  of  on  Gen. 
Taylor's  plantation.  Men,  women,  and  children  all  appeared  to 
adore  Mr.  Taylor,  who  seemed  extremely  kind  to  them,  and  affa- 
ble with  them.  He  informed  us  he  sleeps  always  in  his  own  rus- 
tic shanty,  surrounded  by  the  slaves'  quarters,  without  bolt,  bar, 
or  lock  of  any  description  on  his  doors,  and  that  the  negroes  were 
not  fastened  or  shut  up  in  any  way.  This  shanty  was  a  very  nice 
wooden,  building,  with  a  colonnaded  promenade  in  front,  looking 
on  the  river,  and  had  a  capital  sitting-room,  very  cool  and  pleas- 
ant. The  overseer's  house  was  at  a  little  distance. 

The  principal  mansion  boasted,  too,  of  a  good  and  large  collec- 
tion of  books,  among  which  Mr.  Taylor  showed  me  an  illustrated 
Mexican  "  Don  Quixote."  He  had  brought  it  with  him  from 
Mexico,  and  added,  that  it  was  said  to  be  the  first  work  ever 
illustrated  in  that  country.  The  engravings  were  well  executed, 
and  the  designs  were  spirited  and  clever. 

We  saw  an  aged  slave,  a  hundred  years  old,  and  apparently 
quite  hale  and  hearty.  He  did  not  seem  to  be  the  least  deaf  or 
decrepit,  or  to  have  lost  his  faculties  in  any  way :  he  had  quite 
polished  and  graceful  manners,  something  like  an  old  French  mar- 
quis of  the  vieille  cour.  He  really  reminded  me  a  little  in  his 
courteous  salutations  of  dear  old  Marquis  de  1'Aigle,  who  used  to 

tell  me  at  the  Chateau  d'O of  his  dancing  minuets  with  poor 

Marie  Antoinette.  He  came  daintily  forward  and  treated  us  to  most 


AN  AGED  SLAVE.  119 


Chesterfieldian  bows  and  reverences,  with  multitudinous  respect- 
ful inquiries  after  our  health  and  well-being. 

"  What  do  I  owe  you  for  those  chickens  you  sold  to  me  a  little 
while  ago  1"  asked  the  President's  son  of  the  old  slave.  "  One 
dollar  and  five  bits,"  replied  the  centenarian  with  the  most  unhes- 
itating accuracy  and  promptitude.  The  money  was  immediately 
paid  to  him.  Mr.  Taylor  had  told  me  before  that  he  always 
bought  his  poultry  of  this  old  man,  who  was  allowed  to  rear  them 
on  his  own  account,  "  and  who,  I  assure  you,  invariably  charges 
the  very  highest  prices  for  them,"  added  he,  laughing. 

I  took  an  opportunity  of  offering  this  sable  Sir  Charles  Grandi- 
son  a  trifling  backsheesh  to  reward  him  a  little  for  his  walk  to 
the  lodge  to  see  us  (though,  by  the  way,  we  were  told  it  was  no 
unusual  exertion  for  him,  as  he  very  frequently  came  there) ;  the 
bowing  increased  to  almost  ko-tooing,  and  he  went  on  his  way  re- 
joicing and  bowing  still,  like  a  self-acting  porcelain  Chinese  Man- 
darin, "  nid-nid-nodding." 

We  brought  away  a  tiny  bale  of  the  President's  beautiful  white 
cotton,  just  as  it  came  off  the  tree. 

When  the  slaves  were  collected  together  in  front  of  the  house 
for  our  inspection,  they  had  each,  as  a  treat,  some  tobacco  given 
them,  which  is  what  they  dearly  love.  This  they  afterward  pro- 
ceeded to  smoke  to  our  healths,  to  which  I  had  no  sort  of  objec- 
tion, provided  they  did  not  wish  me  to  hob  and  nob  with  them. 
They  were  generally  fine  stout-looking  people,  and  had  not  at  all 
a  stupid  air.  One  very  remarkably  intelligent-looking  youth  was 
Mr.  Taylor's  valet;  and  the  latter  informed  me  that  this  young 
negro  had  taught  himself  to  read  and  to  write.  For  some  time  Mr. 
Taylor  had  remarked  that  he  sat  up  very  late,  and  after  observing 
this  repeatedly,  he  resolved  on  watching  him,  to  see  what  object 
he  had  in  maintaining  these  lengthened  vigils.  He  thus  dis- 
covered the  fact.  The  poor  aspiring  darkie  had  saved  every  can- 
dle-end he  could  find,  and  deprived  himself  of  sleep  night  after 
night  to  accomplish  his  design.  Might  not  such  a  one  become  a 
Toussaint  1'Ouverture  in  time  ? 

Alas  !  there  are  too  many  interests  involved — even  those  of  the 
slaves  themselves — to  permit  the  immediate  extinction  of  slavery. 
I  am  quite  aware  that  on  plantations  such  as  the  one  I  have  been 
writing  about,  one  sees  entirely  the  couleur  de  rose  of  the  business  ; 
but  I  believe  it  is  very  rarely  the  negroes  are  ill-treated,  except, 
as  I  was  told  by  an  American,  occasionally  by  small  farmers,  emi- 
grants, who  have  never  had  such  power  before,  and  who  are  often 


120  TRAVELS  III  AMERICA. 

led  into  abusing  it.  The  French  are  said  to  be  very  severe  mas- 
ters, but  I  was  constantly  assured  the  worst  of  all  are  the  colored 
people  themselves.  This  will  appear  less  astonishing  when  it  is 
recollected  that  these  people  are  universally  ignorant  and  unedu- 
cated, without  any  proper  moral  training  to  teach  them  to  restrain 
and  subdue  their  naturally  violent  and  inflammable  passions  and 
tempers.. 

I  can  not  but  think,  too,  that  sometimes  when  the  proprietor 
himself  does  not  live  much  on  his  estate,  or  personally  superintend 
his  colored  laborers,  they  are  harshly  used  by  the  overseer.  One 
must  guard  against  believing  all  the  exaggerations  and  prejudiced 
statements  that  one  hears;  but  I  have  been  told  some  painful 
things  relating  to  this,  that  seemed  certainly  from  unimpeachable 
authority. 

Mr. told  me  at  New  Orleans  that  an  overseer  had  actual- 
ly offered  to  flog  one  of  the  negroes  under  his  charge  to  show  him 
how  it  was  done,  and  this  in  the  most  careless  manner,  as  if  it 
was  quite  a  common-place  proposition.  I  can  hardly  help  think- 
ing the  man  had  been  piqued  by  some  remarks  of  Mr. ,  and 

said  this  as  a  sort  of  bravado,  to  show  him  he  defied  his  opinion. 
The  other  story  is,  I  fear,  more  vraisemblable.  An  overseer  was 
talking  of  the  idleness  and  carelessness  of  the  negroes  being  some- 
times very  irritating  and  provoking — as  no  doubt  they  may  be — 
and,  said  he,  "when  that  rascal  did  so  and  so,  I  shot  him,  that's 
a  fact,  for  I  got  so  mad  I  couldn't  do  nothing  else."  I  have  heard, 
not  overseers,  but  other  persons  say  the  same  sort  of  thing  frequent- 
ly, as  an  excuse  for  very  intemperate  and  inconsiderate  conduct 
toward  others,  and  they  seem  to  think  this  exonerates  them  from 
all  blame,  as  if  they  were  really  not  responsible  agents  at  the 
time.  A  gentleman  conversing  with  me  some  time  since  in  the 
West,  on  the  subject  of  some  new  regulations  on  board  one  of  the 
steam-boats,  said  that  the  black  waiter,  on  bringing  him  some 
beefsteaks  and  hot  potatoes  that  he  had  ordered  for  luncheon,  re- 
quired payment  down  before  the  savory  and  smoking  refection  was 
tasted.  Highly  indignant,  the  gentleman  remonstrated,  nay  re- 
commended the  ebony-complexioned  waiter  to  "absquatulate," 
without  loss  of  time.  He  remarked  he  was  above  all  suspicion, 
and  while  he  was  getting  out  his  purse  and  counting  out  the  coin, 
the  beefsteaks  would  be  very  fast  deterioriating  in  value.  Poor 
Pompey  declared  the  captain's  orders  were  absolute,  and  that  all 
were  required  to  submit,  and  again  reiterated  his  request  for  im- 
mediate payment.  "  I  got  so  mad  at  this,"  exclaimed  the  narra- 


PERSECUTION  FROM  MUSQUITOES.  121 

tor,  "  that  I  took  up  the  whole  tray  and  flung  it  and  the  contents 
in  his  ugly  face."  I  am  afraid  there  is  generally  method  in  this 
pleaded  madness  of  a  moment,  for  its  victims  are  commonly  tlie 
'helpless  and  unresisting. 

Mr. had  gone  to  see  the  jail,  and  he  remarked  some  sin- 
gularly ferocious-looking  men,  who  proved  to  be  Spaniards.  "  Ay, 
they  are  right  desperate  chaps,  them,"  exclaimed  the  jailer  or 
turnkey  who  accompanied  him ;  "  I  reckon  them  furriners  'ud 
think  no  more  of  murdering  a  man  right  slick,  nor  you  would  of 
walloping  your  nigger."  But  I  am  saying  more  than  I  intended 
on  this  theme ;  and  of  all  people  in  the  world,  the  English  have 
the  least  right  to  find  fault  with  the  Americans  for  retaining  still 
the  legacy  which  they  had  from  England,  that  melancholy  and 
dangerous  keepsake  that  was  her  gift — a  gift  forced  011  their 
acceptance  too. 

I  must  confess  one  sees  very  original  advertisements  in  their 
papers  sometimes.  The  other  day  this  one  caught  my  eye  : — 
"  To  be  sold  immediately,  a  negro  woman,  and  a  case  of  damaged 
Marseilles  soap :"  and  often  you  see  mules,  carts,  wheel-barrows, 
negroes,  and  farming  utensils,  all  huddled  up  together  in  a  compre- 
pensive  advertisement.  How  comprehensive,  alas  !  They  do  not 
seem  to  think ;  but  of  one  thing  1  feel  quite  certain,  from  many 
observations  I  have  made,  if  you  had  the  power  to  liberate  all  the 
slaves  in  the  United  States,  you  would  find  not  a  tenth,  not  a 
twentieth — perhaps  not  a  hundredth  part  of  them — would  accept 
their  freedom  from  your  hands. 

I  have  had  an  almost  sleepless  night  of  musquito  torment.  The 
housemaids  assured  me  that  the  musquitoes  hardly  ever  bite  now, 
— that  their  s,ay  season  was  over,  and  that  they  were  living  very 
retired  lives  ;  occupying  their  leisure,  I  suppose,  in  improving  their 
minds.  If  they  would  but  learn  to  have  a  little  philanthropy ! 
But  they  would  perhaps  answer,  they  "  already  like  man  very 
much  indeed."  Ah  !  it  is  quite  a  platter  affection,  a  cupboard 
love. 

Hearing  the  satisfactory  report  I  have  quoted  above,  I  left  my 
net  rolled  up  last  night,  and  was  almost  eaten  up  alive.  I  could 
hardly  sleep  a  wink  the  whole  night,  and  passed  its  long  hours 
chiefly  in  the  pleasant  occupation  of  violently  boxing  my  own  ears, 
in  ineffectual  attempts  to  deal  death  and  destruction  at  those  uu- 
pitying  tormentors.  They  are  the  most  ubiquitous  little  monsters 
in  existence,  and  the  most  unkillable  :  you  give  yourself  a  blow 
that  might  knock  down  the  "  Mammoth"  horse,"  and,  though  sore- 

F 


122  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

ly  hurt,  rejoice  in  thinking  you  have  pulverized  the  foe,  and  you 
feel  him  instanter  biting  away  at  the  very  hand  which  hit  the 
blow,  or,  laughing  at  you  (and  stabbing  at  you,  too),  perched  on 
the  top  of  your  own  nose. 

These  Liliputian  lancers  came  on  like  the  clouds  of  irregular 
Cossack  cavalry  that  so  harassed  the  French  in  their  direful 
Russian  retreat — they  are  here,  there,  and  every  where,  their  ter- 
rible "  hoorah,"  and  deadly  dreadful  little  war-whoops,  freezing  one 
with  horror.  In  the  day-time  it  is  hateful  enough,  but  at  night 
far  worse.  However,  at  night,  one  has  the  happy  resource  of  the 
"  bars,"  as  they  call  the  net  apparatus  here,  but  none  in  the  day. 
It  would  perchance  lengthen  one's  life  a  little,  or  at  any  rate 
spare  one's  self  from  sore  anguish,  to  adopt  Cromwell's  plan,  and 
wear  a  coat  of  mail  under  the  outer  apparel,  but  soon  would 
these  clever  little  assassins,  these  "  Thugs"  of  domestic  life,  find  a 
joint  in  one's  armor  ;  and  then  should  one  not  be  like  those  an- 
cient warriors,  who,  by  a  cruel  device  of  the  enemy,  found  them- 
selves closed  up  and  imprisoned  in  cuirasses  almost  red-hot  ? 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

The  St.  Charles  Hotel  at  New  Orleans. — The  Swedish  Waiter  and  Jenny 
Lind. — Oppressive  Heat  in  December  in  New  Orleans. — Vast  Quantities 
of  Cotton. — The  probable  future  Aspect  of  the  Banks  of  the  Mississippi. — 
Commerce  of  New  Orleans. — The  City. — Its  Port. — Its  Inhabitants. — Its 
Churches. — The  City  subject  to  Inundations. — Places  of  Sepulture  above 
Ground. — Wreck  of  the  Louisiana  Steamer. — Wonderful  Capabilities  of 
the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi. — The  Americans  not  extravagant  when  they 
describe  the  Resources  of  their  Country. — Alligators. — The  Red  River. 
— The  artificial  Embankments  of  the  Mississippi  at  New  Orleans. — Their 
Insecurity. 

WE  are  quite  suffering  from  the  heat  of  the  weather  here,  and 
we  are  told  it  is  unusual  to  be  so  oppressively  warm  at  New 
Orleans  in  the  month  of  December. 

We  are  at  a  very  splendid  and  comfortable  hotel,  called  "  the 
Verandah ;"  it  reminds  me  much  of  a  Parisian  one.  The  St. 
Charles  is  the  largest  of  all  the  hotels  in  New  Orleans,  but  it  is 
much  crowded,  and  we  were  recommended  to  try  this,  as  it  is 
quieter,  and  thus  pleasanter  for  ladies.  The  St.  Charles  looks  a 
little  like  St.  Peter's  at  f,  distance — it  is  surmounted  by  an  im- 
mense dome  ;  it  boasts,  likewise,  of  a  splendid  Corinthian  portico. 


NEW  ORLEANS  SHIPPING.  123 

It  i%  said  to  be  the  largest  in  America.  The  attendance  at  this 
Verandah  hotel  is  admirable,  and  all  the  arrangements  excellent. 
But  the  charges  are  much  higher  than  usual  m  the  States. 

We  are  waited  upon  by  a  little  Swede  almost  fresh  from  Jenny- 
Land  land ;  and  he  asked  me  at  dinner  yesterday,  in  an  anxious 
tone,  whether  I  had  ever  heard  his  gifted  countrywoman  sing.  I 
replied  in  the  affirmative.  "Then  I  come  from  two  miles  of  her 
in  Sweden — I  am  from  two  miles  of  her"  (from  where  she  lives  in 
Sweden). — "  Indeed  !" — "  Yes,  and  I  have  known  her  from  a 
little  child.  She  is  very  good  and  fine,  oh,  very  fine  ;  and  I  hear 
in  England  they  much  like  her."  I  assented,  and,  eloquent  in  the 
praise  of  his  northern  land's  nightingale,  he  continued,  "  She  sings 
so  beautiful ;  she  is  a  wonderful  singer  !  Nothing  like  her,  very 
great — very  fine  and  great" — and  then,  by  way  of  crowning  all 
his  praises,  he  exclaimed,  with  prodigious  emphasis,  "  Oh,  she  is 
very  neat,  very  neat."  I  was  not  quite  sure  what  particular  form 
of  encomium  was  intended  to  be  conveyed  by  that  expression,  but, 
nevertheless,  signified  my  concurrence  unhesitatingly,  as  it  was 
evident  he  considered  this  a  "clincher,"  for  he  spoke  quite  "in. 
italics." 

The  quantity  of  shipping  here  seems  to  be  enormous,  and  the 
quays  and  the  levee  (as  the  great  promenade  which  interposes 
itself  between  the  Crescent  City  and  the  Mississippi  is  called)  were 
so  covered  with  huge  bales  of  cotton  (though  it  is  far  from  a  pro- 
ductive year)  that  the  ground  was  literally  strewn  with  little  lumps 
of  it,  fallen  from  the  plethoric  bales  in  moving  them.  It  almost 
looked  as  if  it  had  been  snowing  in  large  flakes.  I  think  one  might 
drive  a  tolerably  profitable  trade  as  a  gleaner  by  picking  up  the 
scattered  cotton,  collecting  it,  and  making  it  up  into  a  few  second- 
hand bales.  You  might  almost  glean  enough  to  freight  a  small 
ship — or  stock  a  little  warehouse. 

Once  or  twice  in  our  Mississippi  voyages  (for  we  stopped  to  see 
various  places,  and  thus  our  voyage  was  performed  in  separate 
divisions,  and  by  different  steamers!  we  found  ourselves  in  vessels 
that  appeared  to  eyes  inexperienced  in  such  matters  to  be  alarm- 
ingly overladen  by  the  heaped-up  cotton  bales.  I  recollect  on 
disembarking  from  one  steamer,  that  she  really  seemed,  as  we 
watched  her  from  the  wharf  where  we  had  landed,  to  be  all  but 
submerged.  She  looked  as  though  she  went  along  her  course 
making  the  most  profound  courtesies  imaginable  into  the  water,  and 
how  she  kept  her  head  above  the  element  in  question  I  know  not. 

We  have  luckily  got  large  and  airy  apartments  in  this  same 


TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 


Verandah  Hotel ;  for  if  they  were  not  so  I  know  not  how  we  should 
endure  the  heat.  It  is  now  evening — considerably  past  the  middle 
of  December — and  we  are  sitting  with  broad  immense  French  win- 
dows wide  open,  and,  of  course,  we  have  no  fire,  and  yet  it  is  suf- 
focatingly hot,  and  we  are  gasping  for  breath ;  but  as  the  New 
Orleanists  themselves  are  grumbling  and  scolding  at  this  weather, 
as  unseasonable  and  insufferable,  I  presume  we  may  expect  a 
epeedy  termination  to  this  frying-pan  temperature. 

A  very  agreeable  and  charming  French  Louisianian  lady,  who 
had  traveled  with  us  across  the  Alleghany  Mountains  called  to  see 
me  the  other  day.  She  assured  me  she  was  suffering  much  from 
the  great  heat,  and  seldom  remembered  it  so  oppressive.  Madame 
V had  just  returned  from  Paris.  She  was  traveling  in  com- 
pany with  her  mother,  husband,  and  several  friends  of  theirs, 
forming  altogether  a  very  large  and  agreeable  party.  Among 
them  was  a  Greek  gentleman,  who  had  lately  settled  in  New 

Orleans,  and  a  M. ,  who  had  traveled  a  great  deal,  and  was 

a  remarkably  well-informed  and  pleasing  person. 

Almost  whenever  we  look  out  of  the  window,  we  behold  cotton 
in  vast  quantities,  carried  through  the  streets  in  rather  awkward- 
looking  carts  or  drays,  which  recalls  to  us  that  we  are  in  the 
Crescent  City — the  City  of  Cotton  par  excellence.  It  is  called 
the  former  name  from  its  semicircular  conformation,  following  the 
sweeping  curves  of  the  Mississippi  shore.  It  is  built  on  the  left 
bank  of  that  mighty  stream,  and  is  about  a  hundred  miles  from 
where  it  mingles  its  far-traveled  waters  with  those  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico — far-traveled  indeed  !  *tn  its  irresistible  flow,  through 
how  many  climates  and  latitudes  has  it  gone,  sounding  and  sweep- 
ing on,  in  its  majestic  breadth  and  more  awful  depth,  and  its 
haughty  power,  and  gigantic  features — more  like  a  long  sea  than 
a  mere  river — a  drawn-out  Adriatic — an  attenuated  Mediter- 
ranean. 

Campbell's  fine  line  would  apply  to  it  lengthwise,  as  to  the 
ocean  : — "  The  lightning's  wing  sinks  halfway  o'er  thee  like  a 
wearied  bird." 

I  shall  want  a  microscope  when  I  return  to  England  ;  so  miser- 
ably small  and  petty  will  seem  its  rivers,  its  hills — all  its  features. 
Magnifying  glasses  might  save  one's  patriotic  vanity  a  little,  till 
we  get  used  to  the  miniature  scale. 

The  Mississippi  springs  to  life  amid  the  chilly  glare  of  everlast- 
ing snows,  and  it  ends  its  mighty  career  beneath  a  burning  sky, 
ay,  almost  under  the  flaming  heavens  of  the  tropics.  Nothing 


POSITION  OF  NEW  ORLEANS.  125 

gives  one  a  better  idea  of  the  immensity  and  greatness  of  this 
sublime  river,  than  the  reflection  that  a  vast  space,  comprising 
about  to  millions  of  square  miles,  pours  its  surplus  waters  into  this 
king  of  rivers.  It  is  indeed  a  Long  Sea.  Then  not  easily  can 
one  forget,  in  looking  on  those  wonderful  waters,  what  change 
another  hundred  years  will  almost  certainly  have  produced  on  the 
vast  scenes  which  they  lave.  What  very  nations  of  men  will 
crowd  on  its  busy  shores,  and  throng  its  immense  valley  !  What 
a  world  of  wonders  will  be  presented  to  the  future  voyager  !  What 
industry,  what  prosperity,  what  splendor,  what  yet  undreamed-of 
attainments  of  civilization,  and  triumphs  of  science,  and  achieve- 
ments of  art ! 

Already  you  see  the  beginnings  of  all  these.  The  desert  is 
gradually  blooming,  the  forest  is  retreating,  the  habitations  of  men 
are  rising  in  all  directions,  fleets  of  steamers  and  other  craft  are 
covering  the  face  of  the  river ;  thousands  of  enterprising  settlers 
are  setting  foot  on  the  shores,  and  advancing  further  and  further 
into  the  beleaguered  wilderness — but  a  hundred  years  hence,  nay, 
fifty  !  Imagination  almost  fails  to  paint  to  herself  what  shall 
then  be  unfolded  and  displayed  in  broad  day  to  the  gladdened 
vision. 

In  a  commercial  point  of  view,  New  Orleans  stands  in  a  pre- 
eminently advantageous  position.  The  Mississippi,  with  its 
numerous  fine  tributaries,  lays  at  its  feet  the  products  of  about 
twenty-five  thousand  miles  of  navigation  (only  reckoning  streams 
navigable  for  large  vessels),  through  regions  of  almost  unparalleled 
fertility,  and  of  still  greater  promise  ;  and  it  carries  back  the 
varied  and  extensive  contributions  of  nearly  every  country  and 
every  climate.  The  city  proper  is  built  in  the  form  of  a  parallelo- 
gram ;  its  whole  length  (including  the  incorporated  fauxbourgs)  is 
said  not  to  be  less  than  five  miles  parallel  with  the  river.  Some 
of  the  streets  are  extremely  handsome,  but  present  a  very  foreign 
appearance.  There  is  one  enormously  wide  street,  or  "  place,"  with 
trees  in  rows  down  the  middle  of  it,  something  like  Eaton-square. 

There  are  a  good  many  villas  in  the  suburbs,  surrounded  with 
gardens,  in  which  orange  and  other  beautiful  trees  abound.  I 
should  think  the  best  possible  view  of  New  Orleans,  is  the  one  we 
saw  on  our  arrival  from  the  river.  It  is  indeed  magnificent,  seen 
from  there  ;  and  what  a  noble  and  busy  aspect  did  its  fine  port 
present,  crowded  with  vessels  of  all  sorts,  descriptions,  sizes,  na- 
tions, and  appearances ;  splendid  steamboats  by  hundreds,  and  a 
multiplicity  of  river  craft,  rafts,  barges,  flat  bottomed  boats,  &c. 


126  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

The  inhabitants  of  New  Orleans,  consist  chiefly  of  Americans, 
and  French  and  Spanish  Louisianians.  French  is  the  language 
generally  talked  in  the  streets,  in  short,  the  prevailing  tongue  ;  but 
there  are  some  of  all  nations. 

There  are  many  churches  in  New  Orleans,  some  antique-look- 
ing, and  others  apparently  of  a  very  recent  date.  We  attended  a 
Protestant  one,  lately  finished,  of  admirable  architecture.  The 
cathedral,  or  Church  of  St.  Louis,  in  the  Place  d'Armes,  is  a  ven- 
erable looking  edifice. 

Whenever  the  Mississippi  overflows  in  the  least,  the  streets  of 
New  Orleans  are  inundated;  but  the  levee  (designed  chiefly  for 
the  purpose)  prevents  the  great  body  of  the  swelling  waters  from 
entirely  annihilating  the  place.  Not  long  ago,  there  was  a  very 
serious  overflow.  The  crevasses  were  fearful,  and  some  alarm  was 
entertained  for  parts  of  the  city.  Boats  were  the  only  means  of 
conveyance  in  the  streets,  and  windows  the  ways  of  ingress. and 
egress.  It  must  have  been  like  Venice,  but  an  impromptu  sort  of 
Venice,  without  the  needful  contrivances  and  conveniences. 

New  Orleans  has  several  peculiarities  of  its  own,  even  when  it 
is  not  thus  unceremoniously  entered  by  the  Mississippi.  For  in- 
stance, the  cellars  and  graves  are  above  ground.  With  regard  to 
the  cellars,  the  basement  story  of  the  houses  is  usually  raised  very 
considerably  above  the  surface,  the  hall  door  being  reached  by  a 
flight  of  steps.  The  graves  are  also  elevated.  The  dead  are 
buried  in  sepulchral  houses,  which  are  termed  here  "  ovens." 
These  often  contain  three  or  four  tiers.  Those  belonging  to  the 
wealthy  are  frequently  very  handsome,  and  built  with  marble 
walls.  There  are  walks  leading  to  different  parts  of  this  singular 
cemetery,  paved  neatly  with  shells.  Were  they  to  attempt  to  dig 
into  the  marshy  ground,  they  would  drown  the  remains  of  their 
lost  friends  and  relatives,  and  write  their  loved  names  indeed  in 
water. 

There  was  something  very  melancholy  in  the  appearance  of  the 
cemetery,  that  we  saw.  Altogether,  the  damp  swamp  of  the  un- 
wholesome-looking ground,  the  low,  flat,  gloomy  iriclosure,  with  its 
cold  and  sombre  houses  of  death,  and  the  carelessness  and  neglect 
visible,  I  thought,  in  general,  made  it  a  very  mournful  spectacle. 
I  believe  it  is  not  considered  prudent  to  stay  long  in  this  sad  place, 
which  may  account  for  its  seeming  rather  deserted  and  uncared- 
for.  Certainly,  in  genera],  however  little  value  America  may 
seem  to  attach  to  life,  before  Death,  in  their  magnificent  ceme- 
teries, they  usually  spread  a  "  feast  of  roses." 


PROCESSION  OF  FREEMASONS.  127 

While  speaking  of  melancholy  subjects,  I  can  not  resist  repeat- 
ing an  anecdote  I  heard  the  other  day  from  Mrs.  .  Soon. 

after  the  horrible  catastrophe  of  the  Louisiana  steamer,  the  nu- 
merous unknown,  unclaimed  bodies  were  laid  out  on  the  levee,  for 
their  friends  or  relatives  to  identify  and  remove  them.  A  friend 

of  Mrs. ,  a  young  man  of  rather  delicate  health,  wished,  out 

of  curiosity,  to  see  this  appalling  spectacle.  His  friends  remonstra- 
ted with  him,  and  earnestly  sought  to  dissuade  him,  telling  him 
that,  in  his  state  of  health,  and  subject  as  he  was  to  nervous  de- 
pression of  spirits,  he  should  carefully  avoid  such  a  frightful  scene ; 
but  he  disregarded  all  their  representations  and  entreaties,  and  de- 
cided on  going.  He  went,  and  on  beholding  the  ghastly  sight,  the 
hideous  rows  of  mutilated  bodies,  some  mere  trunks,  and  all  in  the 
most  awfully  dreadful  condition,  he  was  seized  with  shivering  and 
fainting ;  he  was  quickly  conveyed  home,  but  never  rallied  from 
the  shock  ;  and,  after  lingering  a  few  days,  he  died. 

The  noise  of  the  terrific  explosion  of  the  "  Louisiana"  was  heard 
at  a  great  distance,  and  fragments  of  the  boiler  flew  in  different 
directions  very  far.  A  mule,  in  one  of  the  streets,  was  cut  com- 
pletely in  two,  by  a  fragment,  and  on  the  levee,  numbers  of  per- 
sons were  killed. 

We  saw  the  other  day,  from  our  windows,  an  immense  proces- 
sion of  Freemasons — at  least,  such  I  imagined  them  to  be.  They 
were  very  handsomely  attired  and  decorated  ;  but  one  of  their  num- 
ber was  a  most  ferocious-looking  personage,  with  a  tremendous 
beard — such  a  beard  !  An  extravagant  humorist  might  say  that 
a  fox-hunter  would  be  fain  to  draw  that  cover  for  a  fox,  with  a 
probability  of  success.  You  might  think,  in  looking  at  him,  that 
he  at  least  might  bear  a  charmed  life  among  bursting  boilers,  rail- 
road collisions,  and  such  disasters,  and  dangers,  and  fatal  acci- 
dents ;  for  if  Death  stared  him  in  the  face,  poor  Death  would 
surely  run  ofF,  frightened  to  death  himself. 

One  can  not  but  think  what  a  wonderful  place  this  same  New 
Orleans  will  probably  become  in  the  future.  It  is  calculated  that 
the  Great  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  now  only  containing,  compar- 
atively speaking,  a  mere  handful  of  inhabitants,  could  easily  sus- 
tain and  comfortably  accommodate  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions 
of  people.  Now  the  population  is  about  ten  millions.  What  a 
future  !  what  a  country  !  and  what  a  noble  people,  to  work  out 
its  grand  destiny,  and  to  fill  up  magnificently  the  magnificent  de- 
signs of  Nature.  It  is  all  petty  malice  and  jealousy  which  make 
people  talk  of  their  exaggerated  expressions  and  ideas.  A  man 


128  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

must  have  imagination  indeed,  must  out-Shakspeare  Shakspeare, 
the  myriad-minded,  and  the  very  lord  of  imagination,  to  deal  in 
hyperbolical  extravagance  here.  What  would  be  exaggeration  in 
other  countries,  is  here  the  simplest  moderation,  and  in  all  proba- 
bility lags  behind  the  reality.  The  fact  is,  they  feel  their  destiny, 
and  their  country's  destiny,  and  they  would  be  stocks  and  stones 
if  they  did  not ;  and  if,  in  England,  we  are  disposed  to  think  they 
"greatly  daring"  talk,  we  should  remember  a  little  what  a  pros- 
pect lies  before  them.  Nature,  their  present,  their  future — all  is 
in  such  an  exaggerated  mood  here,  all  on  such  a  stupendous  scale ! 
For  them  to  have  little  views,  and  entertain  trifling  projects,  or 
hold  petty  opinions,  with  regard  to  their  mighty  country's  advance- 
ment and  progress,  would  be  as  absurd  as  to  see  a  party  of  giants 
in  go-carts  or  in  pinafores,  arid  playing  at  "  Tom  Thumb"  and 
"  Goody  Two  Shoes." 

People  take  different  views  of  things.  Our  little  Swedish  waiter 
seems  to  think  America  was  especially  designed  and  provided  by 
Nature  as  a  vast  receptacle  and  a  sort  of  asylum  for  destitute  or 
somewhat  needy  Swedes  ;  a  kind  of  country  of  ease  for  Sweden  in 
particular,  who  kindly  allowed  her  advantages  to  be  shared  by  a 
iew  other  refugees  from  a  few  other  nations.  Regarded  in  this 
rather  modest  light,  it  appeared  to  give  him  tolerable  satisfaction, 
on  the  whole  ;  though  on  some  points  he  seemed  inclined  to  think,  . 
a  little  change  would  be  beneficial,  such  as  having  a  Swedish 
president  here,  and  trifles  of  that  sort.  However,  he  was  an  ex- 
cellent waiter,  and  labored  most  zealously  in  his  vocation  ;  always 
at  hand,  always  active,  attentive,  and  in  good-humor  :  he  must  be 
invaluable  to  the  master  of  this  busy  hotel. 

We  have  a  great  fancy  for  tasting  and  trying  all  sorts  of  un- 
earthly, half-supernatural  dishes.  We  had  found  bear  excellent 
in  the  West ;  sometimes  a  wild  buffalo  capital.  Had  it  been  the 
country  for  such  animals  we  should  have  ordered  hippopotamus- 
pie,  or  a  leg  of  camelopard,  or  chimpanzee  chops,  or  a  lew  slices 
of  rattlesnake,  with  orang-outang  sauce.  As  it  was,  we  asked  for 
wild  turkey,  and  wild  geese,  and  wild  raccoons,  or  "possums."  I 
believe  these  things  (I  do  not  know  about  the  last)  are  accounted 
very  good,  and  it  amused  us  trying  and  experimentalizing  on  them. 
The  recherchee  cuisine  of  the  hotel  did  not  admit  of  such  "  curios- 
ities of  cookery;"  so  very  frequently,  and  with  regret,  our  poor 
little  Swede  was  constrained  to  bring  us  tame  beef  and  mutton, 
and  other  such  common-place  dishes  instead.  However,  he  did  his 
best,  and  brought,  triumphantly,  the  other  day,  wild  ros  lief  (buf- 


THE  RED  RIVER.  129 


falo)  ;  and,  in  short,  dubbed  any  thing  wild  that  could  possibly  be 
called  so.  According  to  him  we  tasted  various  very  savage  fish, 
and  soup  manufactured  from  particularly  uncivilized  turtle.  We 
should  have  liked  to  taste  alligator  much,  but,  however,  failed  in 
so  doing  :  it  is  said  to  be  pretty  good.  There  are  very  few,  if  any, 
left  in  the  Mississippi ;  the  numbers  of  steamboats  there  have 
crowded  them  out,  and  frightened  them  away.  The  Red  River, 
with  its  shore,  is  called,  I  believe,  the  cotton-planter's  paradise, 
and  it  is  also  the  alligator's,  if  the  account  I  hear  of  the  quantities 
there  be  true.  In  the  Mississippi  they  abound  only  in  the  creeks 
and  small  branches. 

The  Red  River  rises  in  the  Mexican  Cordillera,  and  debouches 
into  the  Mississippi  about  two  hundred  and  forty  miles  from  New 
Orleans  :  it  is  navigable  for  thirteen  hundred  miles  above  its  union 
with  the  waters  of  the  great  river.  But  what  is  that  compared 
with  the  united  navigable  channels  of  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Missouri,  which  in  length  actually  exceed  three  thousand  miles  ! 
I  have  heard  it  stated  to  be  exactly  three  thousand  four  hundred 
and  twenty  miles. 

The  artificial  embankments,  or  levees,  that  I  have  already 
alluded  to,  commence  on  the  east  bank,  sixty  miles  above  New 
Orleans,  and  continue  to  extend  down  the  river  more  than  one 
hundred  and  thirty  miles.  On  the  west  shore  the  embankment 
commences  one  hundred  and  seventy-two  miles  above  New  Or- 
leans ;  some,  however,  think  that,  instead  of  a  protection,  these 
artificial  levees  will  prove  a  means  of  aggravating  the  dangers 
apprehended.  By  a  natural  process  the  river,  it  appears,  is  con- 
tinually raising  its  channel  by  a  continued  succession  of  deposits, 
and  also  elevating  its  own  banks  ;  but  whether  the  banks  are 
raised  by  Nature  or  by  art,  the  result  will  be  equal ;  for  by  either 
it  would  seem  unquestionable  that  the  process  of  upheaving  the 
bed  of  the  river  is  accelerated  (as  the  river  can  not  there  deposit  the 
extra  material  on  the  neighboring  surface),  and,  perhaps,  the  more 
so,  as  the  velocity  and  force  of  the  current  are  considerably  weak- 
ened and  diminished  as  it  advances  toward  the  sea. 

The  tremendous  crevasses  of  this  year  have  greatly  alarmed 
many  people.  The  poor  Crescent  City  already  looks  up  at  high 
water  to  the  awful  river,  and  with  very  tearful  eyes  too  some- 
times, and  I  am  not  at  all  sure,  on  second  thoughts,  that  her  com- 
manding commercial  position  is  so  very  favorable  and  enviable  a 
one.  There  is  also  some  chance  that  she  may  find  herself  some 
day  a  "  fair  forsaken,"  for  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  the  great 

F* 


130  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

potentate  and  papa  of  rivers  may  one  fine  morning  run  off  alto- 
gether. 

In  Mr.  Mackay's  "  Western  World"  this  is  perfectly  explained. 
New  Orleans  then  would  have  no  chance  but  to  put  herself  upon 
"rollers,"  and  rush  after  it,  taking  up  a  new  position  somewhere 
on  its  banks. 

The  electric  telegraph  is  established  on  an  enormous  scale  in 
America.  The  whole  of  the  Western,  Northern,  and  Southern 
States  now  hold  frequent  and  uninterrupted  communication  through 
its  instrumentality.  The  great  line  was  completed  in  September, 
1848.  The  other  day  at  New  Orleans  they  knew  what  had  hap- 
pened at  Paris  twelve  days  before — so  at  least  I  was  told. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

Mobile — Lake  Ponchartrain — An  Indian  Encampment — The  Indians  and 
their  Squaws — Chumpa  Girls — Some  Account  of  Mobile — Its  Harbor — 
Festival  of  the  New  Year — Rival  musical  Processions — The  Magnolia 
Grove — Manner  of  Life  of  the  Indians — Manifold  Miseries  attending 

waiting  for  Steamers — Madame  L V Mr.  Clay — Preparing  to 

start  for  Mexico — Madame  L V 's  old  black  Slave — Her  Re- 
membrance of  Washington — Verses  on  Madame  L V 's  deceased 

Children. 

IN  the  month  of  January,  1850,  we  came  by  Lake  Ponchartrain, 
in  a  very  good  steamer,  to  the  Gulf,  and  so  to  Mobile. 

Before  we  embarked  on  the  lake  we  had  to  go  by  railroad  a  dis- 
tance of  about  six  miles  ;  and  as  we  were  waiting  in  a  curious 
circular  sort  of  car,  we  saw  an  interesting  procession  of  Indians — 
an  Indian  encampment  on  the  move.  The  men  seemed  a  mag- 
nificent-looking set,  splendidly  rigged  out  in  very  brilliant  and  pic- 
turesque habiliments.  At  a  little  distance,  at  first  sight,  I  thought 
their  costume  looked  very  much  like  that  of  Highlanders  in  their 
grande  tenue.  They  stalked  along  with  extreme  dignity,  and  their 
haughty  walk  reminded  me  of  the  theatrical,  yet  bold  strutting 
march  of  the  Albanians,  the  finest  steppers  I  ever  saw. 

They  were  as  upright  as  their  own  arrows,  or  the  tropical 
palms  ;  but  not  so  their  unlucky  squaws,  who  followed  after,  bow- 
ed under  the  weight  of  papooshes,  lodge-poles,  pots,  pans,  kettles, 
all  sorts  of  luggage  and  lumber,  live  and  otherwise.  They  looked 
bent  all  manner  of  ways,  and  old — no  wonder — something  like  a 


CHUMPA  GIRLS.  131 


party  of  nomadic  nut-crackers  or  itinerant  notes  of  interrogation. 
Poor  creatures  !  how  wearily  they  seemed  plodding  along  after 
the  ungallant  gentlemen  of  the  party,  who  had  burdened  them- 
selves with  nothing  but  their  guus. 

We  had  a  charming  little  voyage  over  Lake  Ponchartrain.  I 
made  acquaintance  with  a  particularly  nice  Louisianian  lady  on 
board,  who  had  the  misfortune  to  have  a  child  afflicted  with  a  sad 
deformity  :  its  little  arm  was  a  mere  short  stump,  with  something 
like  the  rudiments  of  a  hand  attached  to  it.  It  was  a  most  en- 
gaging, charming  little  child  notwithstanding,  full  of  life,  good- 
humor,  and  spirits.  The  mother  appeared  to  adore  it,  and  so  did 
the  black  nurse. 

I  was  much  struck  with  the  great  mutual  affection  this  nurse 
and  the  child  showed  to  each  other,  and  particularly  by  the  ne- 
gress's  constant  and  extreme  attention  to  the  child  when  the  lady 
was  not  there.  I  mentioned  this  to  her,  and  also  that  I  thought 
this  nurse  had  a  remarkably  good  and  gentle  manner  with  the 
child.  "  Yes,"  she  replied,  "  but  at  first  she  was  very  rough,  and 
spoke  so  strangely,  that  I  could  hardly  understand  her."  I  asked 
her  the  cause  of  this,  and  she  proceeded  to  tell  me  that,  for  some 
reason,  being  obliged  rather  hastily  to  find  a  fresh  nurse  for  her 
child,  she  had  sent  for  one  of  the  field  hands — her  husband  owned 
a  sugar  plantation — who  were  in  general  rough  and  rugged  to  an. 
inconceivable  degree  ;  and  that,  if  translated  from  the  field  to  the 
house,  they  were  almost  insupportable  for  a  short  time,  but  grad- 
ually acquired  the  gentle  manners  and  the  quiet  ways  of  speaking 
of  the  house  servants,  and  entirely  left  oft"  all  their  uncouth  and 
almost  savage  habits.  The  blacks,  it  would  seem,  then,  like  all 
of  us,  more  or  less,  arc  the  creatures  of  circumstances. 

We  saw  a  most  magnificent  moon  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  the 
other  evening.  It  appeared  of  enormous  size,  and  of  the  most 
beautiful  fire-color — in  short,  more  like  a  rising  sun  than  a  moon. 

The  weather  here  is  deliciously  cool  and  fresh  after  New  Or- 
leans. Tbis  morning  we  had  a  visit  from  two  Indian  chumpa 
girls.  They  are  called  so  from  carrying  little  fagots  of  pine-wood 
for  sale  for  the  fires,  and  they  generally  quietly  march  into  your 
room  without  the  ceremony  of  knocking,  uttering  the  magic  word 
"  chumpa,"  which  they  seem  to  consider  a  sort  of  "  Open  Sesame." 
They  belong  to  the  remains  of  the  great  Choctaw  tribe,  and  there 
is  a  large  camp  of  them  not  far  from  Mobile.  The  Cherokees 
have  lately  been  removed. 

This  place,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mobile  River,  has  become  the 


132  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

seat  of  a  very  extensive  trade,  and  it  is  the  principal  outlet  of  the 
commerce  of  the  State  of  Alabama ;  and  enormous  quantities  of 
cotton  and  other  staples  are  brought  down  by  the  different  rivers 
from  the  upper  districts,  and  also  from  the  western  portion  of 
Georgia,  and  from  the  state  of  Mississippi,  to  this  point.  Next  to 
New  Orleans,  this  city  is  the  largest  cotton  market  in  the  Union  ; 
it  has  a  beautiful  view  of  the  Bay,  from  which  it  receives  pleas- 
ant and  health-giving  breezes.  Near  the  town  are  numbers  of 
pretty  and  substantial  villas,  with  delightful  gardens. 

Mobile  has  a  good  harbor,  and  is  well-defended  by  fortifications. 
Indian  names  are  in  the  ascendant  in  this  State  :  Alabama  itself, 
I  am  told,  means  "  Here  we  rest."  Then  there  are  the  Tallapoo- 
sa  and  Coosa  Rivers,  the  Cahawba  and  the  Chattahoochee  (this 
river  united  with  the  .Flint,  forms,  I  believe,  the  Apalachicola, 
which  runs  through  Florida).  Then  there  is  the  town  of  Tusca- 
loosa,  on  the  Black  Warrior  River,  Tuscumbia,  &c.  The  Bay 
of  Mobile  is  thirty  miles  long  and  twelve  broad. 

The  city  was  founded  by  the  Spaniards  in  1700,  but  did  not 
become  a  place  of  importance  or  wealth  till  the  Americans  cap- 
tured it  in  1811.  Some  time  ago  it  belonged  to  Florida,  and  it 
may  be  seen  there  still  in  a  not  very  antiquated  map. 

There  were  some  marvelous  processions  last  nieht  to  celebrate 
the  New  Year.  These  appeared  to  be  representations  "  of  all  the 
world  and  the  rest  of  mankind,"  and  a  little  besides  this  tolerably 
comprehensive  catalogue,  for  Olympus  was  there ;  and,  by  the 
way,  ran  rather  foul  of  another  Celestial  empire,  China,  that  oc- 
casioned some  trifling  discord,  which  soon  passed  away.  Pig-tail- 
ed Mandarins,  pagodas,  and  colored  lanterns  on  poles,  clashed  with 
tridents,  chariots,  and  mythological  divinities.  But  the  most  try- 
ing part  of  that  unlucky  rencontre  was,  that  each  had  a  good  large 
noisy  band  of  music,  and  these  bands,  with  unfaltering  intrepidity, 
came  sounding  and  marching  on,  nothing  daunted,  though  an 
harmonious,  or,  rather,  an  inharmonious  collision  was  inevitable. 
"  Tweedledum"  marched  from  one  end  of  the  street,  and  "  Twee- 
dledee"  from  the  other ;  and  Tweedledum  puffed  and  blew,  and 
twanged  and  flourished,  and  Tweedledee  fiddled  and  squeaked, 
and  grunted  and  groaned. 

"  The  plot  thickened  ;"  demi-semi-quavers  were  fluttering  con- 
vulsively in  the  air,  and  all  sorts  of  queer  crotchets  seemed  in  the 
heads  of  the  musicians.  Infuriated  drummer-boys,  from  the  cen- 
tral flowery-land,  rub-a-dubbed  madly  against  the  "  rataplan"  of 
their  opponents ;  either  opposition  empire  came  on,  as  bojd  as 


MAGNOLIA  GROVE.  133 


brass  and  catgut  could  make  them :  the  fiddlers  of  snowy  Olym- 
pus played  the  sublimest  of  jigs,  and  the  most  thrilling  of  polkas  ; 
the  Celestial  trombones  "  Yankee-doodle"  and  "  Old  Virginny," 
with  electrical  effect.  On  they  came  still — would  either  give 
way  1  No  :  louder,  and  louder  yet.  The  basses  and  trebles,  and 
flats  and  sharps,  and  livelys  and  maestosos,  were  jumbled  together 
into  one  most  horrible  hash  and  clash  of  music.  Where  would  it 
end  ?  Now  comes  the  tug  of  war.  Messrs.  Neptune  and  Mars, 
and  their  myrmidons,  advance  against  Chang-fo  and  Co. :  the 
wind  instruments  were  distending  their  cheeks  almost  to  bursting, 
the  drums  were  beaten  till  they  were  quite  beat.  All  the  notes 
seemed  entangled  together  in  inextricable  confusion — a  grand 
hodge-podge  of  sounds.  And  now  one  Mandarin  shoulders  poor 
Minerva  and  her  owl  into  the  gutter  (as  if  she  were  an  outer  bar- 
bainan) ;  another  apostrophizes  the  solemn  ancient  Pluto,  with 
"  Go  long,  there,  clear  off,  you  old  critter — wake  snakes,  will  ye," 
and  other  impressive  expostulations,  and  even  the  bands  of  music 
are  utterly  confounded  and  commixed.  All,  however,  comes»right 
at  last,  the  two  comets  have  met  without  serious  damage,  and 
each  was  seen  pursuing  its  way  in  its  own  separate  orbit. 

I  can  not  describe  to  you  the  beauty  of  a  large  magnolia  grove 
near  this  place.  This  majestic  wood  reaches  nearly  down  to  the 
beautiful  blue  bay,  and  the  trees  are  unspeakably  magnificent. 

Madame  L.  V tells  me  that  when  all  the  splendid  flowers 

are  out  in  their  full  beauty  and  fragrance,  "their  odoriferous  en- 
chantments aie  beyond  all  expression.  I  am  told  their  delicious 
scent  is  so  powerful,  that  ten  miles  out  to  sea,  the  air  is  filled  with 
the  rich  perfume  ! 

We  have  several  times  visited  the  Choctaw  camp  in  company 

with  Madame  L.  V ,  and  in  her  carriage.  These  Choctaw 

Indians  are  a  singular  people.  As  to  civilization,  poor  creatures ! 
I  can  not  think  that  theirs  extends  beyond  wearing  old  second- 
hand coats  when  in  full  dress,  and  in  drinking  the  hateful  "fire- 
water." They  have  adopted  its  ugliest  points,  and  its  vilest ;  but 
what  know  they  of  its  advantages  and  benefits  ?  Their  mode  of 
life  in  that  camp  seems  pretty  nearly  as  savage  as  it  can  be,  except 
— and  this  is,  indeed,  an  improvement — that  they  no  longer  go  out 
in  their  horrible  war  parties,  nor  do  they  now  depend  entirely  for  their 
subsistence  upon  the  chase.  They  have  in  general  a  certain  noble- 
ness of  look,  and  the  women  are,  many  of  them,  very  handsome. 
One  day  an  Alabamian,  who  was  not  a  disciple  of  "  the  Mississippi 
of  men,  the  Father  of  Waters"  (Father  Mathew)  came  lounging 


134  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

into  their  camp.  His  fiery  and  inflamed  visage,  and  ruby  nose, 
contrasted  strangely  with  the  calm,  stately,  finely-tinted  features 
of  the  Indian.  The  savage,  being  sober,  had  then,  really,  the 
superiority.  Apropos  of  tint :  if  one  had  been  asked  to  point  out 
the  red  man,  I  think  the  rubicund  pale  face  would  have  been 
selected.  I  did  not  know  till  I  came  here  that  the  Indians  and 
negroes  mutually  hate  each  other.  The  Indians  say  the  Great 
Spirit  made  first,  Indians,  then  white  men,  then  dogs,  and  then 
niggers. 

We  have  been  detained  here  a  long  time  waiting  for  the  "  Royal 
Mail"  steamer,  which  has  not  made  her  appearance.  Many 
people,  besides  ourselves,  have  been  watching  for  her  arrival  with 
equal  anxiety,  for  the  same  cause,  namely,  intending  to  go  to 
Mexico  as  passengers  in  her. 

Lately  it  has  been  particularly  disagreeable,  living  this  life  of 
suspense  and  looking-out ;  for,  as  the  steamer  wras  so  very  much 
after  her  day,  it  was  expected  she  would  stay  the  shortest  possible 
space  at  Mobile  Point,  and  the  intending  passengers  were  earnestly 
recommended  by  the  "Royal  Mail"  agents  to  be  quite  prepared  to 
start  at  any  time,  and  in  no  time.  She  might  arrive  in  the  night, 
and  in  that  case  a  little  more  time  was  to  be  allowed  ;  but  a  mere 
fraction.  One  was  to  sleep  weasel-fashion  with  one  eye  open  and 
to  keep  one's  self,  as  it  were,  packed  and  stowed,  and  locked  and 
corded,  and  carded,  all  ready  lor  almost  instantaneous  departure. 
This  became,  in  fact,  a  life  of  perpetual  packings  and  unpackings ; 
for  anticipating  with  horror  the  confusion  of  a  possible  night  de- 
parture, we  had  every  thing  ready  every  night  in  case — and  then 
all  the  indispensable  things  had  all  to  be  got  out  again  in  the  morn- 
ing ;  and  almost  regularly  these  were  found  to  have  gone  burrow- 
ing down  to  the  bottom  of  the  trunks  and  carpet-bags,  after  the 
wont  of  such  indispensable  things  in  general. 

There  were  constantly  flying  reports  of  the  steamer  being  actu- 
ally arrived,  and  the  confusion  that  ensued  then  was  indescribable  ! 
By  some  strange  contradiction  it  appeared  as  if  every  thing  was  so 
ready  that  nothing  could  be  found — in  short,  the  discovery  was 
made  that  nothing  really  was  ready  at  all,  but  the  "  Royal  Mail" 
steamer ;  so  when  this  alarm  was  over,  all  was  to  be  undone  and 
done  over  again  more  systematically.  The  former  had  been,  so 
to  say,  only  playing  at  packing — a  mere  rehearsal  of  preparation, 
but  now  it  must  be  taken  seriously  in  hand,  and  you  may  guess 
the  privation  of  those  days.  Talk  of  journeys  over  deserts — of 
dreadfully  severe  quarantine  regulations — what  were  they  to  this 


MR.  CLAY.  135 

Tantalus-like  state  of  trial — this  slow  starvation  amid  plenty — not 
a  book  could  one  allow  one's  self  to  take  out  of  the  trunk,  because 
they  were,  of  course,  at  the  bottom.  Writing  materials  were  de- 
nied one — watches  were  a  luxury  not  to  be  thought  of;  not  even 
an  innocent  pair  of  scissors,  or  a  harmless  little  pincushion.  Ut- 
terly useless  would  it  have  been  to  have  purchased  other  books, 
&c.  They  must  have  all  submitted  to  the  same  despotic  necessity, 
which  knows  no  law  (not  even  Lynch-law),  and  must  have  been 
without  hesitation  or  commiseration  made  pitilessly  "ready," 
crammed  into  groaning  boxes,  and  choking  trunks — in  fact,  we 
were  (or  we  fully  believed  we  were)  utterly  packed. 

In  short,  I  should  have  had  a  most  uncomfortable  visit  to  Mobile 

but  for  my  charming  friend,  Madame  L.  V ,  who  is  one  of  the 

most  delightful  people  in  the  world,  and  with  whom  we  drove  out 
almost  every  day,  leaving  directions  to  send  all  sorts  of  scouts  after 

us  in  case  this  truant  vessel  should  arrive.  Madame  L.  V , 

and  her  mother,  Mrs.  W ,  are  intimate  friends  of  Mr.  Clay, 

and  I  have  heard  many  very  interesting  anecdotes  of  him  from 
them.  A  grand-daughter  of  Mr.  Clay  is  at  the  Roman  Catholic 
convent,  near  Mobile  (she  was  placed  there  for  her  education),  and, 
to  his  regret,  she  has  lately  declared  her  intention  of  taking  the 
vail.  I  believe  Mr.  Clay  takes  great  interest  in  her  (her  mother, 
his  daughter,  is  dead),  and  is  much  grieved  at  her  taking  this 
step. 

Madame  L.  V has  a  very  charming  daughter,  who  is  a 

nice  companion  for  V .  Two  other  lovely  children  Madame 

L.  V had  the  misfortune  to  lose,  and  she  has  not  yet  recovered 

the  severe  shock  of  their  death.  We  went  with  her  one  day  to 
the  cemetery,  where  repose  her  darlings.  It  is  a  totally  different 
one  from  that  at  New  Orleans,  and  very  prettily  situated. 

1  have  at  last  a  prospect  of  going  to  Mexico.  The  new  United 
States  Minister  to  that  Republic  (whom  I  have  made  acquaint- 
ance with  at  Madame  L.  V 's  house),  having  written  to 

Washington,  and  represented  the  inconvenience  to  which  he  is 
subjected  by  this  long  delay,  and  the  length  of  time  that  has 
elapsed  without  his  being  able  to  assume  his  diplomatic  functions 
and  conduct  various  important  negotiations,  the  authorities  have 
ordered  that  a  war-steamer  shall  be  "  detailed"  from  Pensacola  to 
convey  him  and  his  suite  to  Vera  Cruz.  He  has  obligingly  invited 
some  of  the  detained  passengers  to  accompany  him,  and  among 

others  ourselves.  Madame  L.  V advises  us  to  accept  this 

courteous  offer,  as  most  likely  the  English  steamer  that  has  been 


136  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

over-due  so  long  will  not  call  here  at  all  now,  and  I  am  disposed 
to  do  so  myself. 

We  have  had  a  delightful  drive  again  to-day  with  dear  Madame 

L.  V ,  and  saw  numbers  of  the  chumpa  girls  returning  from 

the  pine  woods  (which  are  a  good  many  miles  off)  so  laden  with 
the  chumpa  (pine)  that  they  could  hardly  move. 

One  of  Madame  L.  V 's  slaves  is  a  capital  old  woman,  and 

apparently  quite  an  original — "qui  ne  se  desoriginalisera  pas,"  I 
should  think  now,  as  she  must  be  hard  upon  a  hundred.  She 
perfectly  remembers  Washington,  having  seen  him  once  driving 
out  in  a  carriage  on  some  great  occasion  in  full  dress.  "  E  mighty 
fine  man  as  ebber  I  seen ;  his  head  berry  white  (powder  prob- 
ably), he  sit  up  so  in  de  carriage,"  straightening  herself  and  look- 
ing dignified  with  all  her  might,  "just  like  so ;  and  old  Massa  he 
in  same  carriage,  dressed  up  fine  too  (he  was  one  of  Washington's 
family,  Judge  W.).  I  member  all  berry  well,  for  little  child  dying, 
and  I  ran  out  o'  house  and  left  it,  just  berry  little  while,  cause 
eberry  body  say  '  Go  see  great  General  Washington'  and  amost 
pushy  me  out  for  to  go  see  him  :  little  child  dying,  but  I  just  ran 
to  seen  him,  and  people  all  halloa  and  shout  berry  loud."  She 
gave  us  all  this  information  in  the  most  elevated  tones,  a  speak- 
ing-trumpet voice.  She  had  a  white  turban  on,  which  showed 
off  her  jetty  ancient  countenance  very  picturesquely. 

There  are  two  portraits  of  Madame  L.  V — 's  lovely  lost  chil- 
dren in.  her  drawing  room.  They  suggested  the  few  following 
lines. 

Bright  lovely  beings  ! — on  each  imaged  face, 
More  of  the  angel  than  the  child  we  trace — 
More  of  the  immortal  than  the  mortal  see, 
In  each  mild  aspect's  pictured  purity. 

Sweet  mother,  check  thy  deeply  mournful  sighs, 
Grieve  not  to  spare  these  Seraphs  to  the  skies. 
Ah  !  not  for  them  need  flow  the  bitter  tear  ; 
How  bless'd  their  sunny  fate,  both  There  and  Here. 

Oh !  not  for  them  should  sorrow's  drops  be  shed, 
We  scarce  can  dream  they  died,  scarce  deem  they  fled. 
Around  them  seemed  to  smile,  all  fresh  and  fair, 
A  happier  world's  serener,  clearer  air. 

'Twas  scarce  a  change — 'twas  scarce  a  second  birth, 
More  of  Elysium  knew  they  than  of  earth  ? 
From  Love  to  Love,  from  living  Light  to  Light, 
How  smooth  the  transit,  and  how  short  the  flight ! 


BOSTON  AS  A  COMMERCIAL  CITY.  137 

And  what  to  them  was  Death's  pale  kiss  of  Peace, 
That  bade  the  flutter  of  life's  pulse  to  cease  ? 
Though  swift  the  stroke,  though  brief  the  warning  given, 
'Twas  but  a  step  from  yuck  a  Home — to  Heaven  ! 

I  believe,  besides  ourselves,  Lord  Mark  Kerr,  (who  is  lately 
come  from  Canada,  where  he  is  aid-de-camp  to  Lord  Elgin),  and 
Mr.  P ,  United  States  Consul  at  Mazatlan,  a  friend  of  Ma- 
dame L.  V 's,  are  going  in  the  war  steamer  with  Governor 

L .  It  is  expected  to  arrive  very  shortly  here,  and  we  are  all 

quite  ready  to  start,  I  hope  and  trust,  having  subsisted  almost 
•without  the  barest  necessaries  of  life,  for  a  period  of  about  three 
weeks,  in  a  high  state  of  preparation.  The  weather  has  been 
rather  unsettled  and  rough,  but  looks  just  now  a  little  more  prom- 
ising for  our  Gulf  voyage. 

But  before  I  beg  the  reader  to  accompany  me  in  my  departure 
from  the  United  States,  I  must  detain  him  with  some  further  re- 
membrances of  Boston  and  New  York,  to  each  of  which  cities,  I 
propose  devoting  a  brief  chapter. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

Boston  as  a  Commercial  City — Its  Wharves — Its  Shipping — Its  Trade — The 
India  Wharf — American  Boys — The  Present  and  Future  of  America — 
The  Fashionable  Quarter  of  Boston — American  Ladies  and  Gentlemen — 
Young  America — Boston  the  Metropolis  of  Railroads — Gallantry  and  Pa- 
tience of  American  Travelers — Fresh  Pond — Wenham  Lake  Ice — Mr. 
Prescott's  Town  House — Library,  and  Literary  and  Philosophical  Institu- 
tions in  Boston — Its  Periodical  Literature — Its  Charities — Its  Patronage 
of  the  Arts — Powers  Sculptures — Frequency  of  Fires  in  American  Cities 
— General  Appearance  of  Boston. 

BOSTON  seems  one  of  the  busiest  cities  in  the  world ;  a  brief 
visit  to  the  commercial  quarter  will  fully  satisfy  the  visitor  as  to 
that  fact. 

Beside  its  wooden  wharves  (some  of  which  have  durable  stone 
fronts)  are  innumerable  vessels  of  all  dimensions  and  devices,  and 
of  every  variety  of  build  and  rigging.  The  water  is  very  deep, 
and  large  ships  seem  almost  leaning  (as  if  tired,  after  their  long 
tempest-tossing,  perchance,  and  weary  wanderings),  against  the 
warehouses  and  ranges  of  substantial  and  solid  edifices,  reserved 
for  commercial  uses — for  some  of  the  slips  run  a  little  way  into 


138  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

the  land.  Great  numbers  of  these  warehouses  are  crowded  along 
the  shore ;  the  packets  from  Europe  have  a  convenient  slip  espe- 
cially set  apart  for  their  accommodation,  and  exclusive  occupation. 
Mr.  Cunard's  steamers  have  a  one  thcfcsand  feet  long  wharf.  Al- 
together, the  sight  is  an  interesting  one ;  the  eye  is  almost  be- 
wildered with  the  heterogeneous  and  ever  diversified  scene. 

The  coasting  trade  is  said  to  be  three  or  four  times  as  great  as 
that  to  foreign  ports.  There  is  an  extreme  difference  perceptible  . 
in  the  "naval  architecture"  of  the  crowded  coasting  craft.  There 
are  stout-looking  schooners,  which  ply  between  Boston  and  New 
York,  a  devious  and  difficult  voyage,  and  some  rather  Quaker-look- 
ing brigs,  somewhat  formal  and  precise,  and  punctilious  in  appear, 
ance,  that  are  preparing  to  run  a  starched  and  stiff  course,  if  the 
weather  will  permit  them  to  do  so,  to  drab-suited  Philadelphia.  Pass 
on,  arid  you  will  see  the  less  elaborately  finished  craft,  which  are 
bound  for  the  Carolina  shore,  and  for  the  trading  and  wealthy 
cities  of  far  off  Alabama  and  Louisiana.  "  'way  down  south." 
Then  there  are  the  fairy,  knowing-looking  Baltimore  clippers,  their 
graceful  masts  clustered  together  like  a  whole  dense  plantation  of 
tall  slim  walking-sticks  for  young  giants.  They  are  for  the  Mon- 
umental City. 

Then  immense  steamers  are  to  be  seen,  bound  for  various  places, 
that  look  so  light,  despite  their  large  size,  that  a  strong  puff  of 
wind  might,  peradventure,  lift  them  "  right  away"  out  of  the 
water,  to  continue  their  voyage  in  mid  air.  If  you  entered,  you 
would  find  their  furniture  and  appointments  such  as  might  have 
tasked  the  most  skillful  looms  of  Persia,  and  beggared  of  their  cost- 
liest materials  the  marts  of  furthest  Ind. 

And  that  brings  me,  without  further  digression,  to  what  is  called 
the  "  India  wharf,"  which  is  nearly  a  thousand  feet  long,  and 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide.  The  richly  freighted  ships 
from  distant  Hindostan,  and  jealous  China,  bring  here  their  many 
treasures  :  and  those  vessels,  too,  that  are  bound  for  these  favored 
lands,  with  innumerable  wares  for  their  different  markets.  Wher- 
ever you  turn,  on  all  these  wharves  you  find  the  bustle  of  business. 
It  would  be  a  difficult  matter  to  describe  the  profusion  and  super- 
abundance of  rattling  arid  lumbering  drays  and  carts,  and  barrows 
and  trucks,  the  crowds  of  porters  jostling  each  other,  and  the 
throngs  of  the  busy  dealers  and  clerks,  and  superintendents  and 
assistants,  and  consignees  on  every  side,  or  the  strange  chaos  of 
commerce  seemingly  heaving  all  around  you.  What  is  there  ? 
nay,  what  is  there  not  ]  Salt,  sugar,  molasses,  cotton,  calico,  mar- 


AMERICAN  BOYS.  139 


ble,  leather,  silk,  flour,  coffee,  fruits,  oil — stowed  away  in  bales, 
barrels,  boxes,  bags,  hogsheads,  jars,  casks,  chests,  sacks,  and  cases, 
till  there  seems  enough  to  feed,  and  clothe,  and  supply  half  a  world 
for  a  century  to  come,  piled  before  you. 

I  shall  beg  the  reader  now  to  seat  himself  on  Prince  somebody's 
carpet,  as  in  the  fairy  tale,  and  taking  leave  of  these  busy  scenes 
(there  are,  by  the  way,  about  two  hundred  docks  and  wharves 
altogether,  surrounding  Boston),  fly  over  some  zig-zagging  streets 
of  huge  warehouses,  which  streets  are  grim  and  gloomy  enough, 
but  of  no  great  length,  and  over  the  noisy,  reeking  Irish  quarter, 
which  I  am  told  intervenes,  and  the  carpet  shall  stop  the  way,  for 
a  time,  in  the  centre  of  the  city.  I  have  mentioned  before,  how 
that  the  sidewalks  were  turned  into  counters  "of  ease,"  for  the 
overflowing,  crammed  shops ;  and  how  they  looked  as  if  it  had 
actually  rained  silks  and  calicoes,  and  cottons,  or  as  if  some  of  the 
richly-laden  ships,  had  by  some  magic,  been  carried  into  the  heart 
of  the  town,  and  wrecked  almost  on  the  door-steps  of  the  stores. 

But  look  at  these  newly-arrived  hurrying  Yankees.  They  stalk 
over  these  piles  without  casting  a  look  to  the  right  or  left,  with, 
their  curious  boots  turned  up  at  the  points,  something  like  Turkish 
cimeters  (these  are  not  the  dandies  of  Boston,  but  haply  specula- 
tors in  some  of  the  ten  thousand  and  one  lines  which  people  spec- 
ulate in,  throughout  these  busy  regiens)  ;  they  have  an  eager,  on- 
looking,  straight-forward  stare,  and  a  rather  vacant,  and  yet  anx- 
ious look,  as  if  they  had  sent  their  minds  on  before  them,  and  their 
bodies  were  hastening  after,  and  trying,  at  least,  to  keep  these  very 
go-ahead  avant  couriers  in  view — in  short,  running  after  them  as 
well  as  they  could.  And  sooth  to  say,  these  personages  are  rather 
cadaverously  complexioned ;  as  is  the  wont  of  bodies  no  longer 
tenanted  by  their  spiritual  occupants. 

Look  at  that  boy,  that  mannikin,  with  his  hat  so  knowingly 
on  one  side,  and  the  Turkish  cimeter-like  boots  and  all ;  he  is  "  a 
dreadful  bright  boy,"  that.  You  would  see  him  chew  and  smoke, 
if  it  was  not  forbidden  in  the  Trimountain  City,  and  hang  his 
nether  limbs  out  of  a  railroad  car  (if  you  met  him  in  one,  and  if  he 
could  by  possibility  lengthen  them,  so  as  to  contrive  so  to  do) ;  or 
he  will  tell  you,  perchance,  with  his  tiny  squeaking  voice,  "  We 
air  a  great  people,  by  thunder,  the  greatest  on  the  airth,  and  can 
do  all  things  double  first-rate,  from  blowing  up  a  universe  and  a 
half,  if  it  misbehaves,  to  blowing  half  a  soap-bubble.  Now  ;  we'll 
put  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  in  our  side-pockets  any  day,  and 
reduce  all  Europe  to  no  whar  and  a  grease  spot,"  and  so  forth  : 


140  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

and  very  soon  not  only  this  species  of  boasting,  but  other  ungrace- 
ful bragging  (which,  though  not  so  broad,  is  yet  sufficiently  ex- 
travagant) will  be  entirely  confined  to  this  very  young  America. 

As  this  people  progress  and  advance  more  and  more,  they  will 
gain  more  the  humility  of  true  greatness.  They  will  feel  more  the 
vast  responsibilities  that  rest  upon  their  Titanic  shoulders  ;  they 
will  weigh  more  what  stupendous  steps  they  have -yet  to  take — 
what  almost  incomprehensibly-great  destinies  are  slowly  unfolding 
before  them ;  and  these  most  momentous  and  grave  considerations 
will  gradually  produce  their  effects,  and  at  length  impress  contin- 
ually their  views,  opinions,  works,  and  even  words.  They  will 
feel  more  and  more  that  their  past  and  present  colossal  greatness 
does  not  make  future  improvement  and  progress — as  Napoleon's 
renown  was  said  to  do  of  all  future  fame — impossible,  but  impera- 
tive— absolutely  indispensable.  Nature  has  done  so  much  for 
them,  that  to  be  commensurate  with  her,  to  keep  pace  with  their 
giant  opportunities,  they  must  act  as  giants. 

And  we  must  be  just,  too  ;  for,  verily  what  would  be  boasting 
and  hyperbolical  rhodomontade  with  others,  is  the  mere  simple 
truth  often  with  them.  Nature  speaks  to  them  in  such  grandilo- 
quent strains  that  she  sets  the  example  of  "  tall  talking."  But  I 
must  return  to  "  mes  moutons." 

We  will  take  a  glimpse  at  the  fashionable  quarter  of  the  town. 
Near  the  Common  are  a  number  of  very  handsome  mansions  ;  and 
in  driving  or  walking  along  the  streets  in  the  neighborhood  of  it 
you  will  see  many  splendid  equipages  of  the  merchant  princes  and 
princesses  of  old  "  Shawmut."  You  will  often  meet  a  group  of 
graceful  ladies  (perhaps  going  to  shop  in  Washington-street),  not 
only  beautiful,  but  with  countenances  of  the  most  intellectual  ex- 
pression. From  all  I  hear  and  see,  I  believe  the  Boston  ladies 
are  particularly  accomplished  and  amiable. 

The  gentlemen  look  like  gentlemen — not  because  they  have 
lemon-colored  kid  gloves,  or  Parisian  boots,  but  from  their  whole 
air  and  manner.  As  to  being  merely  well-dressed  in  the  cost-and- 
quality-of-material  sense  of  the  word,  that  almost  every  body  is.  A 
mob  in  the  United  States  is  a  mob  in  broad-cloth.  If  we  may  talk 
pf  a  rabble  in  a  republic,  it  is  a  rabble  in  black  silk  waistcoats  (the 
favorite  wear  among  certain  classes  in  America)  and  well-brushed 
hats.  Therefore,  to  look  really  like  a  gentleman  in  the  United  States, 
depends  in  nowise  on  the  clothes,  but  entirely  on  their  wearer  ; 
and  the  tailor  has  less  to  do  with  manufacturing  a  gentleman 
here,  than  in  perhaps  any  other  part  of  the  world.  For  in  all  other 


YOUNG  AMERICA.  141 


countries  you  are  a  little  assisted  to  the  conclusion,  unwittingly,  by 
the  dress  ;  but  here  not  in  the  least,  and  you  must  judge  wholly 
by  I'air  noble  et  distingue,  or  the  reverse,  of  the  individual. 

It  is  very  seldom  you  see  any  equestrians  in  these  northern 
cities.  Every  body  chooses  either  to  walk  or  go  in  carriages.  The 
Common  is  a  very  agreeable  place  for  promenading  ;  and  there 
you  will  see  a  great  deal  of  little  America  in  the  shape  of  pretty 
fairy-like  children,  enjoying  the  fresh  air  with  their  Irish  nurses, 
or  their  graceful  mammas. 

Little  America  is  unhappily,  generally,  only  grown-up  Amer- 
ica, seen  through  a  telescope  turned  the  wrong  way.  The  one 
point,  perhaps,  in  which  I  most  concur  with  other  writers  on  the 
United  States,  is  there  being  no  real  child-like  children  here.  The 
little  creatures,  looking  all  the  time  every  thing  that  is  infantine 
and  unsophisticated,  will  read  novels  and  newspapers  by  the  hour 
together,  and  the  little  boys  will  give  you  their  opinions  dictatori- 
ally  enough  occasionally ;  and  the  little  girls  "  talk  toilet,"  and 
gossip,  and  descant  on  the  merits  of  the  last  French  novel,  or  the 
elegibility  of  such  a  parti  for  a  husband  for  such  a  lady  ;  or  on 
the  way  Mrs.  So-and-So  misconducts  her  household  affairs,  and 
spends  money  at  Newport  or  Saratoga  Springs  ;  and  so  far  this 
is  not  pleasing  to  our  English  tastes. 

But,  nevertheless,  there  are  many  very  good,  and  perhaps  suffi- 
cient reasons  assigned  for  the  necessity  that  exists  in  this  country 
at  present  for  bringing  up  their  children  with  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  the  world.  The  boys  have  all  an  active  part,  to  play  in 
the  mighty  drama  of  busy  life  on  which  they  are  entering — nation- 
ally, politically,  socially,  or  commercially.  No  drones  are  admit- 
ted into  the  great  Transatlantic  hive.  There  is  no  time  to  spare ; 
they  must  be  ready,  as  soon  as  possible,  to  take  their  places  and 
run  in  the  great  race,  or  they  will  be  distanced  by  their  more  agile 
and  precocious  contemporaneous  competitors,  and  sec  prize  after 
prize  borne  away  by  those  who  had  learned  their  ABC  with 
them,  or  after  them. 

The  girls  are  generally  married  early  to  husbands  in  business, 
and  have  to  take  care  of  themselves.  They  ojrdinarily  live  (till  a 
competency  is  acquired  and  a  house  bought)  at  the  enormous 
hotels  that  abound  in  the  State,  while  their  husbands  are  at  their 
desks  or  counters  all  day. 

What  quantities  of  omnibuses  and  hack  carriages  are  plying 
backward  and  forward  from  the  railroad  depots  !  The  trains 
seem  going  and  coming  incessantly,  for  Boston  is  a  sort  of  rnetrop- 


142  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

oils  of  American  railroads :  it  is  the  centre  of  the  whole  railroad 
system  of  New  England,  and  from  it  the  iron  lines  radiate  to  all 
parts.  The  star  of  Massachusetts  is  an  iron  star,  and  its  rays 
shine  with  the  far-searching  light  of  progress  and  power.  Canals 
and  roads  give  it  countless  other  additional  facilities  for  intercom- 
munication and  self-accommodation. 

The  New  England  railroads  are  in  general  exceedingly  well- 
managed  ;  but^  they  are  not  as  fast  as  ours.  They  have  no  ex- 
press trains  running  sixty  miles  an  hour ;  but  in  a  few  years  they 
will,  I  doubt  not.  (As  to  the  electric  telegraphs  in  the  United 
States  they  put  us  entirely  to  the  blush).  It  has  happened  to  me 
on  these  railroads  to  look  out  of  the  window,  when  we  have  stop- 
ped very  suddenly,  and  to  see  a  lady,  lounging  as  slowly  as  possi- 
ble, parasol  in  hand,  across  the  rails,  evidently  rather  enjoying 
thus  keeping  the  train  waiting  till  it  suited  her  to  dawdle  out  of 
the  way. 

As  to  the  cows,  they  seem  to  think  the  iron  road  was  especially 
intended  for  them  ;  but  their  constant  habit  of  getting  in  the  way, 
and  the  "  cow-catcher,"  which  adorns  every  train — invented  in 
order  to  convince  them  of  their  error — has  been  so  often  mention- 
ed, that  I  will  not  dwell  on  the  subject.  I  have  heard  that  the 
railroad  sometimes  takes  a  short  cut  across  a  church-yard  in  this 
country,  but  I  never  saw  an  instance  of  this,  nor  should  I  believe 
it.  They  treat  and  brave  death  lightly  enough  certainly  here ; 
but  the  dead  are  uniformly  respected  and  honored. 

We  stopped  one  day  in  the  "  cars"  (as  they  usually  call  the 
train)  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  for  a  newly-married  lady,  whose 
husband,  by  some  strange  absence  of  mind,  thought  she  had  enter- 
ed the  car,  and  jumped  in  just  before  the  train  started.  He  paced 
up  and  down,  looking  for  the  gentle  bride,  in  vain.  At  last  the 
sympathizing  conductor,  on  being  informed  of  the  mistake,  had 
the  train  stopped,  and  the  gentleman  ran  back  and  brought  the 
lady  to  the  cars  ;  the  passengers  all  waiting  with  the  greatest 
patience,  and  acquiescing  unmurmuringly  in  the  gallant  con- 
ductor's decision  ;  indeed,  many  hardly  looked  up  from  their  news- 
papers, as  if  it  was  the  most  every-day  circumstance  that  had 
happened. 

I  have  invariably  remarked  that,  eager  and  go-ahead  as  they 
are,  the  Americans  are  the  most  philosophically  patient  travelers 
in  the  world.  You  are  kept  waiting  for  a  cow,  or  a  pig,  or  an- 
other train  coming,  or  a  forgotten  wife,  and  they  betray  no  symp- 
toms of  impatience  or  indignation.  The  contretemps  is  borne  with 


MR.  PRESCOTT'S  TOWN  HOUSE.  143 

the  most  inexhaustible  stoicism  and  the  most  unvanquishable  good 
temper.  How  an  Englishman  would  fume  and  fret ! 

When  we  were  at  Cambridge  the  other  day,  we  went  with  Mr. 
and  Miss  Everett  to  see  Fresh  Pond,  which  in  reality  supplies,  as 
we  were  told,  England  and  other  parts  of  the  world  with  the  far- 
famed  Wenham  Lake  ice.  The  water  is  like  liquid  diamonds, 
so  transparent  and  sparklingly  pure.  The  scenery  around  is 
worthy  of  being  mirrored  in  it.  I  am  told,  in  the  winter  it  is  one 
of  the  gayest  scenes  in  the  world.  During  the  time  of  the  ice- 
cutting,  innumerable  sleighs  assemble  on  the  spot,  and  the  beau 
monde  of  Boston  are  all  to  be  met  there.  The  clear  polished  ice 
is  cut  into  blocks,  about  two-and-twenty  inches  square,  for  which 
operation  a  machine  expressly  constructed  and  invented,  is  used 
(called  the  ice-cutter),  and  it  is  then  covered  with  saw-dust,  pack- 
ed, and  sent  to  all  quarters  of  the  earth — India  and  China  among 
others. 

We  went  to  see  Mr.  Prescott's  town-house  the  other  day — a 
very  handsome  and  spacious  one,  with  a  large  library.  He  has  a 
number  of  good  pictures  and  busts  ;  among  the  former,  some  fine 
ones  of  Spanish  monarchs.  Framed  and  hung  up  in  one  of  the 
rooms,  we  saw  a  portion  of  the  rich  lace  that  adorned  the  shroud 
of  Cortez. 

Boston  is,  I  think,  very  rich  in  libraries,  both  public  and  private. 
It  contributes  very  largely  to  the  prosperous  advancement  and 
reputation  of  native  literature,  and  it  has  a  remarkable  number  of 
literary  and  of  philosophical  institutions.  It  has  some  of  the  most 
valuable  periodicals  and  journals  of  the  country.  I  have  just  been 
informed  there  are  fifty  weekly  newspapers  in  Boston,  besides  six- 
teen daily  ones ;  but  this  is  only  a  small  part  of  the  periodical  lit- 
erature of  Boston. 

This  mightiest  city  of  New  England,  therefore,  seems  to  ad- 
vance with  simultaneous  progression  in  every  varied  walk.  Un- 
surpassed— nay,  hitherto,  in  some  respects,  unrivaled — in  material 
prosperity  and  practical  development,  she  sedulously  devotes  her 
unwearied  energies  also,  to  cultivating  to  the  highest  point  all  the 
mental  faculties.  The  intellectual  studies  of  her  inhabitants  are 
pursued  with  ardor  and  vigor  ;  and  on  all  sides  you  see  evidences 
of  this  truth,  in  the  numerous  and  excellent  educational  establish- 
ments and  admirable  scientific  institutions. 

The  instruction  of  the  people  is  a  paramount  consideration  in 
the  public  charities,  and  among  the  crowded  seminaries  and 
schools  are  several  most  munificently  endowed  by  some  of  the 


144  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

public-spirited  citizens  of  the  Granite  City.  The  arts,  too,  seem 
to  flourish  and  improve  here,  and  to  keep  pace  with  the  ceaseless 
march  of  knowledge  and  erudition.  Music,  painting,  and  sculp- 
ture here  exert  their  exquisite  influence  and  weave  their  magic 
spells.  There  is  a  gallery  of  sculpture,  in  which  Power's  match- 
less works  are  exhibited  ;  and  though  some  of  the  less  initiated 
and  refined  may  call  the  "  Greek  slave"  (as  I  have  read  in  some 
jocular  account  of  it)  "  the  greatest  piece  of  whittling  in  the  world," 
they  appear  most  sincerely  and  earnestly  to  admire  it  and  the 
other  beautiful  works  of  art  in  the  saloons.  Music,  too,  is  making 
great  progress. 

It  appears  to  me  that  refinement  and  elevation  of  taste  are  ad- 
vancing here  as  rapidly  as  science,  knowledge,  wealth,  and  pros- 
perity. Those  who  wish  to  indulge  in  any  invidious  and  vitupera- 
tive observations  respecting  America  had  better  make  haste,  or 
they  will  find  themselves  absolutely  compelled  to  praise  and  admire 
instead.  Not  only  in  Boston  but  universally  in  New  England  the 
habits  of  the  people  seem  daily  becoming  more  and  more  polished 
and  refined. 

Boston  just  now  is  not  very  full :  the  greater  part  of  the 
wealthy  inhabitants  are  gone  to  the  watering-places.  I  find  it  is 
a  custom  here  sometimes,  on  going  into  the  country,  merely  to 
turn  the  key  in  the  lock  of  the  house-door.  No  domestic  is  left 
in  charge  of  the  vacated  building,  but  it  is  left  to  take  care  of  itself. 

This  city  is  well  lighted.  Speaking  of  lighting,  however,  I  must 
say  in  America  the  fires,  so  frightfully  frequent,  render  gas  almost 
a  work  of  supererogation.  If  you  arrive  at  a  town  at  night,  you 
rnay  be  pretty  sure  you  will  find  it  illuminated  by  a  convenient 
conflagration  ;  and  though  they  do  not  exactly  intend  to  bum 
down  their  houses  to  light  travelers  the  better  through  their 
streets  (as  extravagant  a  mode  as  Charles  Lamb  tells  us  was 
adopted  in  some  wild  country  for  pig-roasting  before  cookery  was 
known),  yet  it  really  has  that  effect,  as  we  found  from  practical 
experience.  Boston  and  the  other  towns  in  New  England  are  all 
lighted  by  gas,  but  I  think  the  lighting  arrangements  sometimes 
are  a  little  neglected,  and,  in  some  few  towns,  rather  insufficient. 

State-street  is  a  very  busy  and  wealthy-looking  street  in  Boston, 
and  Tremont-row,  hard  by  our  hotel,  is  a  particularly  handsome 
one.  But  this  is  altogether  a  very  striking  town,  although  its 
streets  are  not  so  regular  and  wide  as  those  of  many  smaller  towns. 
Boston  was  planned  in  old  times,  when  much  irregularity  prevail- 
ed in  the  system  of  city  building.  Besides  this,  it  is  very  much 


GENERAL  APPEARANCE  OF  BOSTON.  145 

circumscribed,  from  its  situation  on  a  rather  vandykeing  Peninsula, 
with  a  surface  far  from  regular,  joined  by  a  mere  narrow  strip  of 
terra  Jirma  to  the  main  land.  In  short,  the  city  proper  is  in  con- 
fined and  straitened  circumstances.  It  wants  some  territorial 
acquisitions  to  increase  its  accommodation  for  building-ground,  or- 
namental space,  &c.  If  M.  Agassiz  would  set  his  coral  insects  to 
work,  to  enlarge  and  spread  the  available  land  around,  he  would 
confer  a  signal  service  on  the  city,  which,  nevertheless,  is,  all 
things  considered,  a  very  noble  capital. 

Towns  and  villages  in  numbers  have  started  up  around  it,  to 
relieve  it  of  its  superabundant  population,  but  these  ofishoots 
hardly  add  to  the  stateliness  of  its  appearance.  Notwithstanding 
this,  it  is  a  "  great  place,"  as  they  say  here ;  and,  as  a  lady,  who 
is  not  a  beauty,  often  takes  more  care  of  her  personal  appearance, 
and  endeavors  to  rectify  and  to  compensate  for  the  mistakes 
and  niggardliness  of  Nature,  by  additional  attention  to  various 
little  arts  of  pleasing — so  Boston,  disadvantageously  situated 
in  some  few  respects  for  imposing  architectural  show  and  sym- 
metrical display,  makes  amends  for  these  inconveniences  and  un- 
favorable conditions  by  the  most  scrupulous  order  and  cleanliness, 
and  the  most  finished  propriety  and  exquisite  management. 
This  is  one  reason,  I  believe,  why  it  reminds  me  of  a  promoted 
Amsterdam — that  is,  hoisted  on  a  hill — and  other  towns  in  Hol- 
land. 

The  houses  are  of  granite  and  brick,  and  a  flight  of  marble 
steps  often  conducts  you  to  the  hall  doors  of  Boston's  hospitable 
mansions. 

G 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

Bustle  in  the  Streets  of  New  York — Trinity  Church — Wall-street — The 
Park — The  Shops  in  Broadway — Traffic  in  Broadway — Irish  and  German 
Emigrants — Wharves  of  New  York — Its  Shipping — The  Astor  House  Ho- 
tel— The  Exchange — The  Custom  House — Theatres — The  City  Hall — 
The  Chair  of  Washington — Churches — Benevolent,  Literary,  and  Scienti- 
fic Institutions — Squares,  Mansions — Foreigners  in  New  York — Sympathy 
between  America  and  Russia — Those  two  Nations — Anecdote  of  an  Amer- 
ican in  Russia — Pearl-street — Military  Companies  in  New  York — The 
Militia — The  Firemen — The  Electric  Telegraph  in  America — The  Bat- 
tery— The  Halls  of  Justice — The  Bowery. 

NEW  YORK  is  certainly  altogether  the  most  bustling,  cheerful, 
lifeful,  restless  city  I  have  yet  seen  in  the  United  States.  Nothing 
and  nobody  seem  to  stand  still  for  half  a  moment  in  New  York ; 
the  multitudinous  omnibuses,  which  drive  like  insane  vehicles  from 
morning  till  night,  appear  not  to  pause  to  take  up  their  passengers, 
or  it  is  so  short  a  pause,  you  have  hardly  time  to  see  the  stoppage, 
like  the  instantaneousness  of  a  flash  of  lightning.  How  on  earth 
the  people  get  in  or  out  of  them,  1  do  not  know  :  the  man  behind 
surely  must  sometimes  shut  a  person  half  in  and  half  out,  and  cut 
them  in  two,  but  neither  he  nor  they  have  time  to  notice  such 
trifles.  You  see  them  thrust,  and  shoved,  and  pushed,  and  cram- 
med through  the  hastily  opened  door,  as  if  they  were  the  merest 
"live  lumber." 

Empty  or  full,  these  omnibuses  seem  never  to  go  slower.  I 
have  seen  dozens  upon  dozens  of  them  go  by  perfectly  empty,  but 
just  as  much  in  a  hurry,  tearing  and  dashing  along,  as  if  lull  of 
people  too  late  for  the  train. 

You  almost  wonder  at  the  houses  standing  still  in  New  York, 
and  begin  to  think  them  rather  slow  and  behind  the  age.  You 
feel  surprised  they  are  not  built  on  wheels.  I  did  hear,  indeed,  of 
whole  suburban  streets  being  removed,  the  other  day,  to  a  more 
eligible  situation  on  rollers,  or  something  of  that  kind — but  I  will 
not  vouch  for  the  fact. 

New  York  has  been  so  often  and  so  minutely  described,  that  I 
shall  not  dwell  on  the  details  of  its  plan,  situation,  or  appearance. 
I  will  only  mention  a  few  points  that  struck  me.  Perhaps  the 
building  I  was  the  most  pleased  with  in  New  York  is  the  Trinity 


SHOPS  IN  BROADWAY.  147 

Church.  I  do  not  profess  to  understand  ecclesiastical  architecture, 
but  if  one  of  its  perfections  be  the  raising  the  thoughts  and  con- 
templations from  earth  to  heaven,  then  must  Trinity  Church  be 
deserving  of  the  highest  commendation.  Its  spire  is  unspeakably 
beautiful  (three  hundred  feet  high),  and  almost  seems  to  pierce  the 
sky,  like  a  flash  of  retorted  lightning.  It  is  situated  on  the  west- 
ern side  of  Broadway,  exactly  opposite  the  entrance  of  Wall-street 
into  it.  Wall-street  is  the  busiest  street  in  New  York,  and  answers 
to  our  Lombard-street  in  London. 

The  park  is  pretty,  but  too  small  for  such  a  city  as  New  York. 
It  has  a  beautiful  fountain,  and  is  splendidly  illuminated  at  night 
by  thousands  of  lamps.  There  are  numerous  superior  shops  in 
Broadway,  but  the  most  pre-eminently  magnificent  is  "  Stewart's ;" 
it  is  one  of  the  finest  structures  I  ever  saw,  its  front  being  com- 
posed entirely  of  white  marble.  Mr.  Stewart  is  going  to  add  im- 
mensely to  this  splendid  store,  and  it  will  occupy  almost  as  much 
space  as  the  Palazzo  Doria  at  Rome. 

Crowds  of  carriages,  private  and  public,  are  to  be  seen  in 
Broadway,  passing  and  re-passing  every  moment,  filled  with 
ladies,  beautifully  dressed,  in  the  most  elaborate  Parisian  toilets. 
Among  the  thousands  of  fashionable  promenaders  who  are  throng- 
ing the  side-walks,  there  is  often  to  be  seen,  a  group  of  Irish  or 
German  emigrants,  just  as  they  have  come  from  the  crowded 
packets,  the  latter  looking  very  picturesque,  with  their  national 
costume.  I  saw  the  other  day,  a  large  party  of  these  poor  people. 
They  looked  like  Bavarian  peasants,  and  they,  as  well  as  several 
pudding-like  children  who  accompanied  them,  seemed  struck  with 
utter  astonishment,  at  the  noise  and  incessant  bustle  of  animated 
Broadway.  The  carriages  scampered  by  as  if  all  New  York  was 
going  to  turn  out  and  leave  them  in  undisputed  possession.  They 
looked  so  bewildered,  that  I  fancied  they  were  perhaps  come  from 
some  of  the  quiet  hamlets  I  have  seen  by  the  side  of  the  Danube, 
where  time  and  the  river  seem  to  flow  by  with  equal  calmness. 

But  look  a  little  beyond  that  German  group.  From  what  part 
of  the  world  do  those  most  extraordinary  masqueraders  come? 
One  has  got  only  half  a  hat,  another,  two  joined  in  one,  and  their 
habiliments  are  marvelously  grotesque.  Their  hair,  in  some  in- 
stances, hangs  nearly  on  their  shoulders,  in  others  it  radiates  away 
very  respectfully  from  the  skull,  as  if  controlled  by  some  mysterious 
centrifugal  force  of  the  brain  within.  In  the  name  of  fortune, 
whence  are  they  ?  They  look  intelligent,  resolute,  self-confident 
— in  the  name  of  fortune,  indeed  !  for  perhaps  these  men,  at  the 


148  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

moment  you  are  half  pitying  them,  half  wondering  at  their  forlorn 
and  destitute  appearance,  are  worth  millions  of  money,  and  to-mor- 
row, they  will  shine  out  in  all  the  splendor  of  a  New  York  exqui- 
site's toilet.  They  are  returned  Californians,  just  landed,  come 
to  enjoy  in  "  the  States,"  the  golden  fruits  of  their  toils,  their  perse- 
verance, and  their  industry. 

The  wharves  of  New  York,  during  the  business  season,  are 
densely  lined  with  the  shipping  of  every  maritime  country  under 
the- sun.  Merchantmen  of  every  size  are  there,  and  for  at  least 
three  miles,  they  present  an  uninterruptedly  continued  forest  of 
masts,  and  cordage,  commingling,  apparently,  with  the  chimneys 
of  almost  innumerable  steamers.  More  than  a  thousand  sailing 
vessels,  nearly  a  hundred  steamers,  about  eighty  tow-boats,  and  two 
hundred  canal-boats,  may  usually  be  found  in  the  noble  harbor  of 
New  York,  during  the  busy  time  of  the  year.  In  the  severest 
winter,  this  harbor  is  never  obstructed  by  ice,  so  that  vessels  are 
not  inconvenienced  on  that  account. 

I  have  already  mentioned  the  magnificence  of  the  New  York 
hotels,  but  must  just  add,  that  the  enormous  Astor  House  not  only 
is  said  to  be  furnished  with  its  own  private  printing  press  for 
striking  off  the  diurnal  bills  of  fare,  but  it  also  makes  all  its  own 
gas.  However,  it  does  not  yet,  I  believe,  manufacture  its  own 
linen  or  plate  ! 

The  Merchants'  Exchange  I  was  much  struck  with.  It  has  a 
glorious  portico,  formed  by  a  towering  and  imposing  colonnade,  the 
shafts  of  whose  noble  Ionic  columns  are  separately  composed  of 
enormous  blocks  of  granite.  We  entered  the  great  room,  and  were 
amazed  at  its  magnificent  proportions.  It  is  a  rotunda,  and  of 
vast  diameter,  adorned  with  high  marble  Corinthian  columns. 

Beyond  this,  at  the  corner  of  Nassau  and  Wall-streets,  is  the 
Custom  House  for  the  port  of  New  York.  It  is  two  hundred  feet 
long,  ninety  feet  wide,  and  eighty  feet  high,  and  is  constructed 
wholly  of  superb  white  marble  :  the  form  is  that  of  a  Grecian  tem- 
ple of  the  Doric  order  of  architecture.  The  front  looking  to  Wall- 
Etreet  displays  an  immensely  broad  and  lofty  flight  of  steps,  also  of 
white  marble.  I  understand  it  has  a  second  similar  front  on  a 
street  at  the  back,  which  runs  parallel  to  Wall-street  (Pine-street, 
I  believe).  Each  front  has  a  noble  portico.  It  is  made  fire-proof 
throughout,  huge  slabs  of  marble  covering  the  whole  roof. 

The  great  hall  of  business  is  a  rotunda,  sixty  feet  in  diameter, 
with  recesses  and  galleries,  making  it  eighty  feet.  It  has  an  elabo- 
rately stuccoed  dome,  supported  by  sixteen  Corinthian  columns. 


NEW  YORK  THEATRES.  149 

The  Custom  House  is  built  on  the  site  of  the  Old  City  Hall,  in 
the  open  gallery  of  which  Washington  was  inaugurated  first 
President  of  the  United  States. 

There  are  numerous  theatres  in  New  York.  We  visited  none 
of-  them,  so  I  can  not  describe  their  internal  appearance  and 
accommodations.  One,  called  the  Park  Theatre,  is  exactly  opposite 
the  Astor  House.  Not  far  beyond  the  Park  Theatre  stands  a 
rather  gloomy  and  unattractive  building :  it  is  called  Tammany 
Hall,  and  is  the  place  where  the  Loco  Focos  are  (or  were)  wont 
to  assemble.  Still  a  little  further  up,  and  within  the  area  of  the 
Park,  stands,  beautifully  situated,  the  City  Hall.  Its  front  eleva- 
tion is  of  white  marble,  and  is  ornamented  with  pilasters  and 
columns  of  the  Corinthian,  Ionic,  and  Composite  orders,  rising  one 
above  the  other  in  regular  gradation.  In  the  Common  Council 
Room  is  a  chair  (which  is  still  used  by  the  President),  that  Wash- 
ington sat  in  when  he  presided  over  the  first  American  Congress, 
which  assembled  in  New  York. 

From  the  cupola  that  surmounts  the  building,  a  view  of  the 
whole  vast  city  is  commanded  ;  and  in  this  there  is  a  clock ;  and 
there  is  also  an  apartment  constantly  occupied,  night  and  day,  by 
a  watchman,  whose  office  it  is  to  keep  a  perpetual  look-out  for 
fires,  and  to  give  the  alarm,  by  striking  an  enormous  bell  which 
hangs  in  a  belfry  in  the  rear  of  the  cupola,  and  which  is  exclu- 
sively used  for  this  purpose.  By  this  bell  the  man  watches  with 
a  hammer  in  his  hand,  ready  to  give  the  necessary  notice  when  he 
observes  the  least  indication  of  fire.  The  sound  can  be  heard  from 
one  end  of  the  city  to  the  other,  and  is  almost  instantaneously  re- 
sponded to  by  a  hundred  others  in  every  direction.  The  number 
of  strokes  indicates  the  particular  ward. 

There  are  nearly  three  hundred  churches,  I  believe,  in  this  city. 
There  are  a  considerable  number  of  excellent  Literary,  Benevolent, 
and  Scientific  Institutions.  Some  of  the  squares  of  New  York 
are  very  handsome.  Washington-square  is  prettily  laid  out  with 
walks,  and  shaded  with  flourishing  trees.  Union-square  has  a 
fountain  in  the  centre,  and  is  inclosed  with  a  handsome  iron  fence. 
St.  John's  Park  is  also  embellished  with  a  fountain,  and  adorned 
with  trees. 

Some  of  the  private  mansions  in  New  York  have  quite  an  im- 
posing and  palatial  appearance,  and  are  very  magnificently  fur- 
nished. All  the  States  have  their  representatives  in  the  crowded 
and  ever-animated  thoroughfares  of  this  populous  city — nay,  I 
might  say,  indeed,  so  have  almost  all  the  nations  of  the  earth. 


150  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

The  French  appear  to  muster  numerically  stronger  than  any 
other  people,  but  this  arises  from  the  fact,  that  nearly  all  the  New 
Yorkers  are  accoutred  in  Parisian  costume.  Their  very  hair  is 
cut  and  combed,  and  their  beards  trimmed  and  clipped  strictly  a 
la  Fran$aise,  which  does  not  in  general  improve  their  personal 
appearance.  Looking  merely  to  the  people,  you  might  often  fancy 
yourself  in  the  Boulevards,  instead  of  in  Broadway.  Au  reste, 
Germans,  Swedes,  Poles,  Italians,  and  hosts  of  others  meet  you  at 
every  turn.  There  are  but  few  Russian  visitors  here  it  seems ; 
but  I  am  very  much  struck  by  the  apparant  entente  cordiale  that 
exists  between  Russia  and  the  United  States.  There  seems  an. 
inexplicable  instinct  of  sympathy,  some  mysterious  magnetism  at 
work,  which  is  drawing  by  degrees  these  two  mighty  nations  into 
closer  contact.  Napoleon,  we  know,  prophesied  that  the  world, 
ere  long,  would  be  either  Cossadk  or  Republican.  It  seems  as  if 
it  would  first  be  pretty  equally  shared  between  these  two  giant 
powers. 

I  can  not  resist  dwelling  a  little  on  this  interesting  subject. 

Russia  is  certainly  the  grand  representative  of  despotic  prin- 
ciples, as  the  United  States  are  the  representatives  of  democratic 
ones.  How  is  it  that  these  antagonistic  principles,  embodied  in 
those  two  mighty  governments,  allow  them  to  be  so  friendly  and 
cordial  toward  one  another  ?  In  the  first  place,  the  Emperor 
Nicholas  is  a  very  far-seeing  and  astute  politician ;  he  keenly  feels 
all  the  benefits  that  may  accrue  to  him  1'rom  cultivating  the  best 
possible  understanding  with  the  United  States.  He  has  deep  and 
profound  motives  for  this,  which  if  he  lives  long  enough,  time  will 
gradually  develop,  to  the  astonishment  of  many,  perhaps,  who 
ought  to  be  more  alive  to  the  signs  of  the  times  than  they  are ; 
and  in  the  second  place,  there  is  a  sympathy  between  those  ap- 
parently dissimilar  countries. 

Russia  and  the  United  States  are  the  two  young,  growing,  giant 
nations  of  the  world — the  Leviathans  of  the  lands  !  They  enjoy 
extraordinary  advantages ;  the  older  nations  seem  to  have  paved 
and  prepared  the  path  before  them.  Around  the  footsteps  of  either 
living  and  far-striding  colossus,  science  and  knowledge  have  shed 
the  most  surprising  light ;  the  most  astounding  and  marvelous 
and  momentous  discoveries  have  been  made ;  the  most  useful 
triumphs  achieved.  Man  almost  seems  a  second  time  to  have 
been  hailed  master  of  the  creation — civilization  has  penetrated  the 
uttermost  corners  of  the  earth — time  and  space  and  the  lightning 
are  his  familiars  and  his  servants.  With  all  these  advantages, 


PRESENT  AND  FUTURE  OF  AMERICA.  151 

those  two  grand  young  nations  are  strong  to  the  race,  and  fresh  to 
the  glorious  contest.  Far  off,  in  the  future,  centuries  and  ages 
beyond  this  present  hour,  is  their  culminating  point.  What  to 
other  nations  may  be  work  and  labor,  to  them  is  but,  as  it  were, 
healthful  relaxation,  the  exercising  of  their  mammoth  limbs,  the 
quickening  of  the  mighty  current  of  their  buoyant  and  bounding 
life-blood,  the  conscious  enjoyment  of  their  own  inexhaustible 
vitality. 

There  is  much  similarity,  in  short,  in  the  position  of  those  two 
vast  powers.  The  extraordinary  increase  in  the  United  States  of 
wealth,  of  territory,  of  population,  and  the  wondrous  opening  of 
fresh  avenues,  and  new  approaches  incessantly  to  mightier  domin- 
ion, greater  influence,  and  vaster  resources,  are  known  to  all ;  but 
though  assuredly  not  even  remotely  approximating  to  the  United 
States,  in  the  advancement  of  mental  energies  and  intelligence,  or 
in  commercial  enterprise  and  facilities,  or  manufacturing  capabili- 
ties, or  even  in  the  thousand  practical  manifestations  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  internal  improvements,  and  progressive  material  pros- 
perity and  development,  yet  Russia  is  making  immense  strides, 
too,  on  her  part.  Her  population  has  increased  to  sixty  millions ; 
she  is  beginning  to  develop  her  gigantic  resources ;  her  physical 
power  is  stupendous  and  paramount;  her  internal  condition  flour- 
ishing and  apparently  stable.  She  is  strong  in  her  geographical 
position,  protected  to  the  rear  by  Nature  herself — by  inhospitable 
wildernesses  and  world- wide  barriers  of  ice — thus  she  can  unhesi- 
tatingly afford  to  fling  her  whole  Titan  strength  and  force  into  the 
van.  Her  foreign  policy  is  most  energetically  administered,  as 
well  as  most  skillfully  and  successfully  conceived. 

She  has  plenty  of  time,  too,  before  her — she  can  watch  and  she 
can  wait.  She  is  conciliating  those  who  would  seem  to  be  her 
natural  enemies ;  economizing,  for  the  present,  her  interference ; 
consolidating  her  energies  and  means ;  improving  her  opportunities, 
and  placing  herself,  move  by  move,  in  the  most  formidable  attitude, 
both  for  offense  and  defense,  and  playing  the  mightiest  and  the 
most  magnificent  game  that  perhaps  has  ever  yet  been  played  on 
earth. 

Still  there  is,  undoubtedly,  the  greatest  possible  difference  be- 
tween her  and  America.  The  former  is  constantly  watching  other 
nations,  adapting  herself  to  meeting  and  confronting  their  policy, 
waiting  to  snatch,  to  seize,  and  to  conquer.  Her  chief  energies 
seem  to  have  an  outward  tendency — an  outward  direction.  In 
America,  on  the  contrary,  those  noble  energies  have  a  more  cen- 


152  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

tral  action.  She  is  ever  occupied  in  incalculably  important  in- 
ternal improvements  ;  her  glorious  task  is  of  a  more  domestic  kind. 
In  her  own  vast  regions  are  her  giant  powers  perpetually  at  work, 
advancing,  perfecting,  enriching,  and  strengthening  !  Her  internal 
intercommunications,  her  extension  of  navigation  and  commerce, 
her  expanding  manufacturing  industry  demand  the  most  incessant 
attention.  The  most  carefully  finished  touches  are  sedulously  given 
to  the  comprehensive  machinery  by  which  is  regulated,  in  various 
modes,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  momentous  schemes  and  enterprises 
of  that  speculating,  industrious,  active-minded  community.  All 
that  concerns  their  privileges,  their  well-being,  their  personal  rights, 
attracts  the  most  deep  and  unwearied  interest ;  while  reforms,  skill- 
fully adapted  to  the  spirit  of  the  age — such  as  measures  for  the 
attainment  of  a  more  speedy  and  efficient  administration  of  justice  ; 
the  revision  and  amelioration  of  divers  laws  and  systems ;  the 
establishment  of  harmony  between  conflicting  and  antagonistic 
interests;  and,  above  all,  increased  provisions  for  the  happiness, 
through  munificently-enlarged  opportunities  for  the  enlightenment 
and  education  of  the  people,  have  occupied,  and  do  occupy,  her 
indefatigable  politicians,  administrators,  and  citizens. 

She  has  nothing  to  do  with,  or  to  gain  from  intrigues  of  diplo- 
macy and  Machiavelian  machinations  of  policy.  Her  stupendous 
work  is  at  home,  but  her  inlluence  is  felt  to  the  furthest  ends  of 
the  earth,  and  her  shadow  is  spreading  from  pole  to  pole.  Like  a 
colossal  tree,  she  stands,  and  firmly  stands,  while  she  grows  and 
spreads,  and  her  roots  are  deepening  while  her  branches  are  ex- 
panding. 

Nay,  she  is  framing  additional  supports,  new  stems  and  trunks, 
like  the  Indian  banyan,  so  that,  while  uprearing  her  glorious  bulk 
and  stature  in  height,  she  is  ever  multiplying  her  props  and  her 
foundations. 

Russia  is  anxious  to  foment  contentions  and  jealousies  between 
other  nations,  for  her  own  ulterior  purposes  and  profit.  America 
would  merely  incline  toward  a  constitutional  propagandism,  and 
that  chiefly  from  a  generous  desire  felt  by  all  her  people,  from  her 
loftiest  statesman  to  her  lowliest  citizen — that  others  should  par- 
ticipate in  what,  with  a  thorough  straightforward  conscientious- 
ness, they  firmly  believe  to  be  the  most  precious  of  benefits  and 
advantages — their  free  institutions  and  popular  forms  of  political 
organization. 

If  Canada  (and  that  is  certainly  not  a  very  unlikely  event) 
should  be  annexed  at  any  future  time  to  the  United  States,  the 


AMERICA  AND  RUSSIA.  163 

latter  and  Russia  would  be  adjoining  countries.  The  two  grand 
extremes  would  meet.  Despotism  and  democracy  would  shake 
hands  over  a  rivulet,  and  smile  at  each  other  across  a  footpath. 

Russia  is  determined  to  be  on  the  best  possible  terms  with  the 
United  States  at  any  rate,  and  I  have  been  over  and  over  again 
impressed  with  that  conviction,  since  I  have  been  in  America ; 
and  that  the  latter  takes  her  flattery — her  complimentary  cordial- 
ity, and  gentle  insidious  advances  very  kindly,  is  most  plainly 
evident. 

The  empire  of  the  Czar  is  wonderful  certainly  ;  but  how  much 
it  seems  dwarfed  when  compared  with  America  !  Its  progression 
is  chiefly  or  wholly  in  physical  advancement ;  but  that  of  the 
United  States  is  in  both  material  and  mental  aggrandizement. 
Russia  will  leave  no  methods  untried,  to  attach  the  United  States 
to  her  interests — to  insure  at  least  her  complete  neutrality,  in  the 
event  of  contingencies,  which  her  telescopic  view  steadily  contem- 
plates, and  her  mighty  hand  ever  labors  to  bring  about.  She  has 
no  desire  whatever  to  try  her  strength  against  the  rival  young 
giant — to  wrestle  (like  the  mighty  athletes  of  old)  with  that  tre- 
mendous competitor,  in  the  Amphitheatre  of  Nations,  for  the  edi- 
fication of  the  world.  She  knows  the  prophecy,  and  has  some 
faith  in  it,  but  is  bent  on  substituting  (for  a  time  at  all  events) 
"  and"  for  "  or."  The  world  may  be  shared,  may  be  Cossack  and 
Republican.  She  positively  will  be  modestly  content,  for  a  sea- 
son, with  only  half  a  world.  A  Cossack  hemisphere  may  hob  and 
nob  in  a  friendly  manner  with  a  republican  one,  over  the  conquer- 
ed empires  of  earth  and  of  the  ocean. 

I  have  spoken  of  Russia  watching  ;  America  watches  too,  but 
unlike  the  contemporaneous  colossus,  it  is  more  the  powerful  pul- 
sations of  her  own -mighty  heart  that  draw  her  regards.  If  all  is 
right  there,  the  future  is  at  her  feet  and  she  knows  it.  And  she 
has  occasion  to  watch,  for  more  reasons  than  one  ;  for  there  are 
symptoms  of  grave  disorder  threatening  there,  and  strange  signs  of 
the  dissolution  of  the  great  federal  compact.  Nothing  more  con- 
vinces the  uninitiated  stranger  of  this  fact,  than  the  incessant  de- 
nunciations thundered  against  disunion,  the  accumulated  protesta- 
tions and  manifestations  and  deprecations,  all  to  the  same  effect. 
I  think  they  exaggerate  the  evil  that  would  arise,  in  the  event  of 
dissolution,  but  the  subject  is  too  deep  for  discussion  here. 

After  this  long  prose,  I  can  not  resist  repeating  an  amusing 
anecdote  I  heard  the  other  day,  relative  to  an  American  in  Rus- 
sia. This  gentleman  had  a  great  wish  to  see  the  Czar,  and  asked 


154  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

the  United  States  minister  to  procure  him  an  introduction  ;  but 
the  public  receptions  were  over,  and  the  minister  told  him  it  was 
impracticable.  Somewhat  indignant,  and  resolved  to  test  the  as- 
sumed impracticability,  the  traveler  addressed  a  letter  to  one  of 
the  Emperor's  aids-de-camp,  I  believe,  and  solicited  an  interview 
with  his  Imperial  Majesty,  as  he  had  "  brought  some  acorns  from 
the  grave  of  the  great  Washington,  expressly  to  lay  at  the  Empe- 
ror's feet,  well  knowing  how  the  character  of  the  mighty  liberator 
was  appreciated,"  &c.  Success  crowned  his  efforts  ;  he  had  the 
interview  he  desired,  and  not  only  that,  but  he  dined  with  the 
Czar,  and  the  following  day  was  invited  to  drive  out  with  him, 
and  had  the  pleasure  of  passing  the  United  States  minister  while 
seated  by  the  side  of  the  mighty  Nicholas,  and  of  making  him  a 
very  patronizing  bow  as  he  dashed  by  in  the  imperial  carriage  ; 
BO  runs  the  story. 

Pearl-street,  a  labyrinthine  street  in  New  York,  which  is  said  to 
have  been  originally  built  by  the  Dutch,  along  a  cow-track,  is  a 
very  zig-zagging  thoroughfare  indeed.  One  would  really  almost 
think  the  Dutch  cows  had  taken  to  drinking  draughts,  not  of 
water  "  as  deep  as  the  rolling  Zuyder-zee."  It  is  very  narrow, 
and  the  houses  are  very  high,  like  those  in  Old  Edinburgh  ;  waves 
and  billows  of  merchandise  of  every  description  and  denomination 
seem  pouring  over  from  the  brimming  stores  and  warehouses,  into 
the  inconveniently  narrow  street.  If  you  were  in  Paris,  you 
might  think  the  street  had  been  purposely  obstructed  with  stub- 
born barricades  ;  but  there  are  no  enfans  de  la  patrie,  with  pikes 
and  muskets  to  oppose  your  progress  behind  them.  So  if  you  can 
climb  like  a  cat,  or  twist  yourself  about  like  a  serpent,  or  a  slip- 
pery eel,  you  have  every  chance  of  surmounting  those  costly  and 
peaceful  obstacles  to  your  progress. 

Look  at  those  two  tall  Kentuckians,  with  their  tufted  chins, 
somewhere  about  seven  feet  "  above  snakes  ;"  they  can  take  a  few 
of  the  interposing  calico-mountains  and  cotton  pyramids  in  their 
stride,  but  at  last  even  they  must  stop  and  scramble  over  or 
through  with  difficulty  and  exertion.  Like  Damocles'  sword  too, 
over  your  head,  are  suspended  from  high  cranes  threatening  loads, 
that  would  soon  pulverize  you  out  of  your  difficulties,  and  reduce 
you  to  very  convenient  dimensions,  if  they  chanced  to  tumble  upon 
you. 

There  are  a  great  number  of  military  companies  in  New  York, 
and  some  of  them  are  really  very  martial-looking  indeed.  I  am 
told  there  is  a  company  of  Highlanders,  formed  by  the  sons  of  far 


TARGET  COMPANIES.  155 

Caledonia ;  and  there  are  German,  French,  Italian  companies, 
&c.  There  are  a  number  of  target  companies,  each  known  by 
some  particular  name — usually,  I  believe,  that  of  a  favorite  leader 
who  is  locally  popular  among  them.  Others  take  their  appella- 
tion from  some  celebrated  historical  character,  and  others  from, 
any  thing  that  happens  to  occur  to  them,  it  would  seem. 

A  few  of  them  are  "  The  Washington  Market  CJwicder  Guard'' 
(chowder  is  a  famous  dish  in  the  United  States),  "  Bony  Fusi- 
leers,"  "  Pea-nut  Guard,"  "  Sweet's  Epicurean  Guard"  (surely 
these  must  be  confectioners),  "  George  R.  Jackson  and  Company's 
Guard,"  "  Nobody  s  Guard,"  "Oregon  Blues,"  "Tenth  Ward 
Light  Guard,"  "  Carpenter  Guard,"  "  First  Ward  Magnetizers," 
"  Tompkins'  Butcher  Association  Guard,"  "  Mustache  Fusileers," 
"  Henry  Rose  Light  Guard,"  "  Atlantic  Light  Guard,"  "  Junior 
Independence  Guard,"  and  multitudes  of  others. 

The  militia  numbers  about  one  hundred  companies,  which  com- 
prise six  thousand  men.  The  Target  Companies  are  said  not  to 
fall  short  of  ten  thousand  men.  I  am  informed  that  the  passion 
of  arms  is  beginning  to  manifest  itself  very  much  here,  and  the 
youths  are  not  happy  till  they  are  enrolled  in  some  of  those  bands. 
It  is  said  that  thousands  of  the  boldest  spirits  in  the  Mexican  cam- 
paign, who  were  ever  in  the  van,  and  at  the  post  of  danger,  rush- 
ing to  the  cannon's  rnoulh  with  fiery  valor,  and  storming,  with 
irresistible  intrepidity,  the  strongholds  of  the  enemy,  were  those 
who  had  figured  in  such  "  Target  Companies"  as  these. 

Generally  a  target,  profusely  decorated  with  flowers,  is  carried  be- 
fore the  company,  borne  on  the  stalwart  shoulders  of  a  herculean 
specimen  of  the  African  race,  to  be  shot  at  lor  a  prize,  or  for  glory, 
and  the  "bubble  reputation"  alone.  On  its  return  from  the  excur- 
sion and  practice,  the  target  will  display  many  an  evidence  of  the 
unerring  skill  and  markmanship  of  the  young  and  gallant  corps.  I 
remarked  before,  that  it  is  supposed  that  the  love  and  desire  of 
military  distinction  is  increasing.  In  corroboration  of  this,  I  find 
it  observed  in  one  of  their  papers,  that  the  American  boy,  after 
delightedly  firing  oft' his  pistol  or  his  minature  cannon,  on  "  Inde- 
pendence Day,"  or  other  national  anniversaries  and  festivals,  in 
commemoration  of  particular  events,  rests  not  now  on  his  budding 
laurels  till  he  becomes  a  member  of  one  of  these  Target  Compa- 
nies. Fired  with  youthful  patriotism,  and  glowing  with  a  boyish 
ambition,  he  desires  ardently  in  some  way  to  distinguish  himself 
among  his  fellow-striplings ;  and,  once  admitted  as  a  member,  he 
strives  hard  to  attain  the  post  of  lieutenant  or  captain  among  his 


156  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

companions  in  arms.  Subsequently  he  aspires  to  join  a  more 
regular  militia  corps  ;  but  it  is  said,  there  are  many  instances  where 
their  devotion  to  the  Target  Company,  which  originally  inspired 
them  with  military  enthusiasm  is  so  strong,  that  they  will  not  de- 
sert its  ranks  for  those  of  the  most  brilliant  and  best-appointed 
militia  company  in  New  York.  There  are  so  many  of  those  en- 
rolled bands,  that  they  and  the  omnibuses  share  the  honor  of  fill- 
ing, and  rousing  the  echoes  of  busy  Broadway. 

I  hear  that  some  of  the  best  and  finest  of  their  organizations  are 
formed  out  of  the  fire  companies,  who  thus  take  upon  themselves 
a  twofold  responsibility,  the  protection  of  the  property  and  lives  of 
the  citizens  from  a  most  formidable  and  merciless  foe,  and  the  ren- 
dering themselves  capable  of  discharging  the  patriotic  duty  of 
crushing  any  enemy  to  their  institutions  that  may  threaten  the 
country,  either  domestic  or  foreign.  Nowhere,  on  the  earth,  I 
should  think,  are  such  numerous  and  splendid  bodies  of  firemen ; 
and  in  no  place  under  the  sun,  or  moon,  I  honestly  think,  have 
they  such  extensive,  incessant,  and  unlimited  practice.  And  what 
men  in  the  world  ought  to  make  such  admirable  warriors  as  fire- 
men ?  At  all  times,  but  especially  at  the  dead  hour  of  midnight, 
forced  to  leave  their  homes  at  a  moment's  notice,  to  start  from 
slumber,  after,  perhaps,  a  day  of  wearying  toil  and  harassing  vex- 
ations— to  confront  the  direst  extremes  of  cold  and  heat — to  brave 
the  "  pitiless  pelting"  of  the  storm — to  face  the  raging  element, 
that  is  their  remorseless  and  tremendous  antagonist — to  dare  al- 
most every  imaginable  peril  without  the  prospect  of  reward,  or  of 
promotion,  or  even  of  renown  and  glory — they  should  certainly 
make  heroes,  when  fame  and  victory  beckon  them  proudly  on- 
ward. 

They  are  trained,  too,  to  strict  discipline  ;  taught  to  obey  every 
word  of  command  of  their  superiors,  and  to  act  together  in  con- 
cert, and  it  may  be  imagined  they  would  prove  gallant  candidates 
for  glory  in  the  field.  Often  the  lieutenants  and  captains  of  the 
Target  Companies  are  artisans,  laborers,  clerks,  and  mechanics. 
The  companies  elect  their  officers,  and  constantly  without  the 
least  favor — I  borrow  the  expression  of  an  American  writer — 
shown  "  to  class,  or  rank,  or  wealth."  The  man  who  is  most 
distinguished  by  these  advantages,  frequently  shoulders  his  musket 
as  a  private  ;  and  yet  he  may  most  largely  subscribe  to  the  com- 
pany's expenses  for  yearly  "excursions,"  and  other  contingencies 
and  needs. 

I  have  already  mentioned  the  number  of  the  electric  telegraphs 


THE  BATTERY.  157 


in  America.  I  must  just  add,  that  on  one  particular  occasion  the 
New  York  Herald  (on  the  5th  of  January,  1848),  contained  ten 
closely  printed  columns  of  important  matter,  that  had  all  been  re- 
ceived during  the  preceding  evening  and  night  over  the  wires. 
The  entire  length  of  the  electric  lines  in  the  United  States,  which, 
indeed,  bring  within  speaking  limits  nearly  every  portion  of  this 
vast  Union,  is  stated  on  fair  authority  to  be  ten  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  twelve  miles,  of  which  three  thousand  and  six  hun- 
dred miles  are  traversed  by  double  wire  ;  but  while  I  am  writing, 
more  are  probably  completed.  Indeed,  if  it  is  not  an  Irish  bull, 
I  should  say,  that  in  order  to  keep  pace  with  what  is  going  on  in 
this  indefatigable  country,  this  unparalleled  hive  of  industry  and 
intelligence,  you  should  go  far  ahead ;  and  if  I  had  boldly  said 
fifteen  thousand  miles,  perhaps  I  should  have  been  nearer  the 
truth  by  the  time  my  words  are  read. 

The  Americans,  from  what  I  hear,  are  remarkably  expert  oper- 
ators on  the  electric  wires — those  slender  threads  that  are,  with- 
out doubt,  charged  with  the  mighty  task  of  revolutionizing  and 
incredibly  elevating  the  intellectual  and  mental  condition  of  the 
whole  inhabited  world. 

One  of  the  most  charming  appendages  to  New  York  is  the  Bat- 
tery, which  is  close  to  Delmonico's  Hotel  (where  we  are  now  stay- 
ing). It  is  situated  at  the  commencement  of  Broadway,  that 
lengthy  Mississippi  of  streets ;  and  it  is  adorned  with  a  profusion 
of  noble  trees,  some  of  very  large  size,  and  is  laid  out  in  broad 
graveled  walks,  commanding  a  charming  view  of  the  harbor,  and 
its  very  ornamental  islands,  of  the  almost  innumerable  vessels  con- 
stantly arriving  and  departing,  and  of  the  adjacent  fair  shores  of 
Nejv  Jersey,  and  of  Staten,  and  Long  Island.  There  are  grass- 
plats  in  the  Battery,  all  of  which  are  intersected  with  paths  and 
walks,  and  overshadowed  by  trees,  that  look  like  veterans  of  the 
primeval  forest.  It  is  not  a  very  fashionable  promenade,  but  this 
arises  probably  from  its  being  so  far  from  the  fashionable  streets 
and  squares  of  the  city. 

When  the  first  steamer  that  ever  crossed  the  Atlantic  arrived 
at  New  York,  the  Battery  is  said  to  have  presented  a  most  heart- 
stirring  and  majestic  spectacle.  The  "  Sinus"  was  the  name  of 
this  precursor  of  all  the  magnificent  steam  Leviathans  that  have 
followed  in  her  triumphant  path.  The  moment  it  was  reported 
that  her  shadowy  flag  of  smoke  was  seen  floating  in  the  direction 
of  the  Narrows,  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  citizens  of  New 
York,  aroused  and  excited  to  the  utmost  by  the  announcement  of 


158  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

an  event  so  congenial  to  their  energetic  natures  and  zealous,  enter- 
prising temperaments,  rushed  with  simultaneous  impetuosity  to  the 
Battery  to  greet  the  triumphant  stranger.  Instead  of  the  "  Sirius" 
ascending  the  East  River  directly  to  dock,  she  passed  the  thronged 
Battery,  as  in  graceful  and  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the  sym- 
pathy and  breathless  interest  shown  in  her  success,  and  swept 
grandly  past  it  again,  close  to  the  densely-lined  shore,  while  the 
air  was  literally  rent  by  the  enthusiastic  shouts  and  deafening  hur- 
rahs of  thousands  and  thousands  of  people,  proclaiming  how  a 
noble  victory  had  been  gained — a  victory  without  bloodshed,  or 
suffering,  or  loss,  or  sorrow,  to  any  single  being,  but  of  profit  and 
incalculable  benefit  to  the  whole  race  of  mankind,  and  the  unborn 
myriads  of  the  most  distant  posterity.  May  these  be  the  victories 
that  in  future  may  blaze  with  all  the  pomp  of  glory,  and  all  the 
festive  splendor  of  success — victories  that,  instead  of  severing  na- 
tions and  people,  shall  unite  them  in  bands  of  universal  brother- 
hood ! 

There  is  no  frowning  artillery  here  to  make  the  Battery  agree 
with  its  warlike  name — no  mighty  walls,  no  upheaved  mounds. 
It  was  once,  I  believe,  applied  to  the  use  its  name  points  out,  but 
has  been  entirely  dismantled,  and  looks  the  very  abode  of  peace 
and  repose.  So  in  due  course  of  time  may  all  the  earth  witness 
one  grand  disarmament  and  dismantling  of  all  her  warlike  strong- 
holds, and  Reason  and  Justice  reign  paramount  ! 

Speaking  of  justice,  there  is  one  very  gloomy-looking  building 
in  New  York,  called  "  The  Halls  of  Justice."  The  architecture 
professes  to  be  Egyptian,  and  the  edifice  is  built  of  a  rather  dark- 
colored  granite,  quarried  at  Hallowell  in  Maine.  Its  architectu- 
ral ponderous  massiveness,  combined  with  the  sombre  hue  of  j  the 
material,  gives  the  building  a  truly  prison-like  aspect,  and  has 
caused  it  to  obtain  the  sobriquet  of  "  The  Tombs."  It  occupies  a 
square,  bounded  by  Centre,  Elm,  Franklin,  and  Leonard  streets. 

New  York,  as  a  whole,  strikes  one  as  unlike  every  city  ever  be- 
held before.  The  cosmopolitanism  of  her  citizens,  the  extraordi- 
nary stir  and  bustle  and  tumult  of  business  going  on  perpetually — 
the  heterogeneous  compounds,  and  kaleidoscopical  varieties  pre- 
sented at  every  turn,  bewilder  and  surprise  the  traveler. 

Besides  the  ever-teeming  tumultuous  Broadway,  there  is  another 
street  that  deserves,  perhaps,  especial  mention  in  any  description 
of  New  York,  and  that  is  the  Bowery,  a  complete  business  street, 
which  also  traverses  longitudinally  the  city.  This  street  has  been 
aptly  named  the  Holborn  of  the  empire  city  of  the  West.  It 


VERA  CRUZ  BY  MOONLIGHT.  159 

runs  parallel  to  Broadway,  and  changes  its  title  of  street  for  the 
more  rural  appellation  of  "  Avenue,"  when  it  leaves  the  town  be- 
hind it. 

I  have  mentioned  the  East  River,  and  ought  perhaps  to  add, 
that  it  is  a  continuation  of  Long  Island  Sound  on  the  east,  unit- 
ing it  with  the  estuary  of  the  Hudson,  and  separating  Long  Island 
from  New  York.  It  is  of  scanty  width,  hut  deep,  and  at  particu- 
lar states  of  the  tide  it  has  a  very  heavy  current.  Long  Island 
Sound  (or  one  part  of  it,  I  am  not  quite  certain  which  portion)  is 
called  the  Hell  Gate,  which  name  is  a  corruption  of  the  old  name, 
Hurl  Gate. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

Vera  Cruz  by  Moonlight — The  "  Walker"  Steamer — The  new  Minister  to 
Mexico — Lord  Mark  Kerrs  exquisite  Drawings — Scenes  on  Deck — Love 
of  Music  of  the  Americans — The  Aspect  of  Vera  Cruz — Effects  of  a 
Norther — Sopilotes — Their  Functions  and  Appearance — The  Castle  of  St. 
Juan  D'Ulloa — The  Harbor  of  Vera  Cruz — Its  Commerce — Its  Founda- 
tion— The  German  Housekeeper — Her  polyglot  Stories — The  Alameda 
— Vast  Number  of  laden  Mules — Departures  for  Mexico — Vera  Cruzian 
Watchmen — Dresses  of  the  Vera  Cruzians. 

WE  landed  at  Vera  Cruz  hy  the  most  magnificent  moonlight  I 
think  I  ever  beheld.  A  huge  arch  of  dazzling  silver  sparkled  over- 
head, and  all  beside  seemed  floating  in  one  vast  silvery  sea :  any 
place  must  have  looked  beautiful  so  deluged  with  splendor,  and 
certainly  Vera  Cruz  did  ;  her  defects  were  really  dazzled  away, 
and  her  beauties  all  glorified  and  increased  a  hundred  fold. 

We  had  a  very  rough  passage  of  about  ten  days  in  the  survey- 
ing steamer  "  Walker,"  of  the  United  States  Navy.  She  was 
very  foul,  which  prevented  her  making  a  rapid  passage,  and  the 
weather  was  against  her.  Every  thing  was  done  to  render  us  as 
comfortable  as  possible.  We  had  a  charming  and  large  cabin, 
and  a  delightful  collection  of  books  was  placed  at  our  disposal. 
The  "  Walker"  is  reckoned  the  most  rolling  vessel  in  the  whole 
United  States  Navy,  and  she  gave  us  during  our  voyage  a  great 
deal  more  than  a  touch  of  her  quality. 

Our  kind  and  excellent  friend  Governor  L ,  the  minister  to 

Mexico,  had  never  been  at  sea  before  in  his  life,  and  it  was  not  to 
be  expected  he  should  find  this  tremendous  tossing  about  very 


160  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

pleasant.  Naturally  enough  he  was  constantly  thinking  we  were 
all  showing,  like  Falstaff,  a  marvelous  alacrity  in  sinking ;  he 
suffered  much  too,  from  the  horrible  mal  de  mer.  But,  notwith- 
standing all  this,  his  unalterable  good-humor  never  failed  him, 
nor  his  wish  to  see  every  body  comfortable  around  him,  however 
uncomfortable  he  was  himself;  and  very  seldom  did  his  almost  in- 
exhaustible good  spirits  forsake  hirn.  Sometimes  when  in  the 
midst  of  one  of  his  entertaining  stories,  laughing  and  making  all 
laugh,  the  frolicking  steamer,  as  if  enjoying  the  joke,  would  seem 
to  be  contemplating  standing  on  her  head,  he  would  suddenly  re- 
gain his  gravity  in  one  sense,  while  he  lost  it  in  another.  But 
generally  he  was  the  life  and  soul  of  the  ship  :  though  it  must  be 
confessed  the  "Walker"  did  not  exactly  fly,  the  time  did. 

We  had  Lord  M.  Kerr's  magnificent  drawings  to  look  at,  and 
his  richly-stocked  portfolio  beguiled  many  an  hour.  He  is  not 
only  a  most  gifted  but  a  most  industrious  and  indefatigable  ama- 
teur artist ;  many  of  his  drawings  are  most  elaborately  and  ex- 
quisitely finished,  and  their  number  and  variety  are  prodigious. 
Here  you  might  luxuriate  among  the  magical  beauties  of  queenly 
Granada,  and  bask  in  the  sunny  and  fairy-like  courts  of  the  match- 
less Alhambra ;  and  there  the  snowy  winter  scenes  of  Canada 
would  make  you  almost  feel  the  freshness  of  the  keen  clear  air, 
so  exquisitely  delineated  were  they  ;  and  there  again  you  had 
the  glowing  tropical  scenery  of  the  West  Indies  to  feast  your  eyes 
upon. 

The  weather,  after  the  first  few  days,  began  to  be  exceedingly 
warm.  The  passengers  spent  almost  all  their  time  upon  deck,  for 
most  of  the  cabins  below  were  very  close,  and  hot  ;  ours  was  an 
exception  to  this  ;  we  had  a  very  large  sky-light,  which  was  of 
course,  always  wide  open  when  possible,  and  the  magnificent 
American  flag  was  thrown  lightly  over  the  opening  to  shield  us 
from  the  intense  glare  of  the  sun. 

On  deck,  what  scenes  tragi-comical  are  ever  going  on !  To  be 
sure,  all  decks  in  rough  weather  present  pretty  nearly  the  same 
spectacles  ;  yet,  like  the  fun  of  Punches  and  puppet  shows,  it 
seems  an  untiring  species  of  drollery.  Look  at  that  tall  gentle- 
man ;  he  appears  trying  hard  to  learn  to  walk  on  his  own  nose, 
which  is  certainly,  though  not  otherwise  than  a  handsome  one, 
quite  sufficiently  pointed  perhaps,  and  projecting  ;  but  he  does  not 
wish  other  people  should  do  so  too — no,  that  would  be  expecting 
quite  too  much  of  the  poor  nasal  organ  aforesaid.  But  that  very 
stout  gentleman  seems  to  intend  it  nevertheless,  nay,  to  be  very 


GALE  AT  SEA.  161 


seriously  determined  on  doing  this ;  but  stay !  the  nose  rolls  sud- 
denly one  way  and  the  very  stout  gentleman  the  other;  the 
threatened  feature  is  safe  for  this  time.  Then  they  go  boun- 
cing along  by  fits  and  starts,  and  performing  insane  ko-tooings  to 
nobody,  and  catching  tight  hold  of  nothing,  and  swinging  round 
sometimes  in  a  wild  partnerless  waltz.  A  reel  is  of  cosmopolitan 
constitution  on  board  ship,  and  the  Scotch  can  claim  no  monopoly 
of  it — all  are  dancing  it  like  mad  in  general. 

Governor  L ,  when  not  incapacitated  by  the  mal  de  mer, 

zig-zagged  about  to  the  utmost  capacities  of  the  "  Walker,"  and 
nothing  daunted,  boldly  attempted  to  walk  whenever  there  was 
the  least  possibility  of  performing  that  most  extraordinary  of  all 
imaginable  feats,  on  board  a  rolling  vessel  on  a  rough  sea.  He 
wisely  caught  hold  of  every  thing  to  steady  him  that  happened  to 
be  nearest,  and  made  handles  and  temporary  sheet-anchors,  of 
heads,  ankles,  benches,  bonnets,  boots,  heels,  hats,  cabin-boys,  car- 
pet-bags, throats,  ringlets,  wide-awakes,  elbows,  and  chins,  and  in 
short,  whatever  came  handy,  dragging  himself  on  thus  with  the 
most  philosophical  indifference  as  to  whether  he  had  griped  hold 
of  your  "nose  or  your  shoe.  He  held  on  like  grim  death,  for  the 
nonce,  "  and  no  two  ways  about  it." 

As  I  said  before,  he  was  very  amusing  and  pleasant,  and  had 
an  immense  flow  of  spirits  :  it  was  diverting  to  see  him  occasion- 
ally, when  a  sudden  terrific  lurch  came,  upsetting  furniture  and 
philosophy,  pathetically  turning  down  one  corner  of  his  mouth 
with  a  lachrymose  and  rueful  expression,  while  he  had  not  had 
time  to  dismiss  the  merry  curl  on  the  other  side.  He  was  par- 
ticularly anxious  to  know,  on  such  occasions,  how  long  the  ves- 
sel might  be  supposed  to  have  a  chance  of  going  on  before  she 
foundered. 

One  day  we  sprang,  or  carried  away,  our  jib-boom,  and  the 
main-stay  sail  came  down,  and  great  was  the  confusion  and  alarm  ; 
for  I  think  one  or  two  on  board  were  not  much  better  sailors  than 
the  excellent  minister.  I  believe,  if  the  truth  had  been  told, 
there  were  several  who  would  have  thought  it  an  improvement  if 
the  ship  could  have  accommodated  a  select  few  of  the  Royal,  or 
any  other  Humane  Society  to  restore  us  to  life,  after  any  extent 
of  drowning  we  might  be  subjected  to.  However  that  might  be, 
it  was  a  gallant  and  goodly  company  on  board,  and  pleasant  was 
it  to  hear  them  singing  in  merry  chorus  in  the  evening,  when  the 
water  was  comparatively  calm  (very  much  comparatively,  I  as- 
sure you),  "  O  Susanna !"  which  rather  whimperingly-inclined 


162  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

lady  seems  really  to  be  the  "  undying  one,"  and  also  the  universal 
arid  ubiquitous  one ;  for  go  where  you  may,  you  will  hear  her  in- 
voked. I  am  told  they  harpoon,  whales  to  this  cheering  tune  in 
the  Antartic  regions. 

Then  there  was  a  right  jovial  parody  about  "  Californy,"  too, 
and  no  end  of  "  Uncle  Neds"  and  "  Mary  Blanes,"   &c.     But 
among/them,  however — which  was  a  great  want  of  taste  in  these 
songsters — was  not  the  good  old  ditty  with  the  impressive  words, , 
beginning — 

"  Come  all  ye  Continentallers,  I'd  have  ye  for  to  know, 
That  for  to  fight  the  enemy  we're  going  for  to  go." 

The  Americans,  I  think,  are  a  very  musically  inclined  people — 
far  more  naturally  so,  it  strikes  me,  than  we  "  Britishers."  They 
have  a  very  pretty  custom  (and  they  have  so  many,  it  is  strange 
that  those  which  are  of  a  contrary  description  should  ordinarily 
alone  have  been  dwelt  upon  by  travelers),  and  this  is,  of  calling 
each  other  by  the  names  of  their  respective  States.  If  there  be 
more  than  one  from  a  State,  I  suppose  by  a  kind  of  subdivision 
they  resort  to  the  names  of  their  towns.  If  this  be  the  cdse,  what 
grandiloquent  denominations  some  of  them  might  come  in  for. 
"  Here  Constantinople,  young  Ninevah  wants  you  ;"  and  "  Pekin, 
call  Carthage  and  Mesopotamia  to  help  Alexandrianopolis  and 
little  Herculaneum."  As  it  is,  through  our  skylight,  we  heard 
constantly  some  of  their  beautiful  State  names  shouted  out. 
"  Indiana,  come  give  us  a  song  right  away,  and  Alabama  will 
join."  "  No  ;  it  is  Louisiana's  turn  any  how."  "  Where's  Texas? 
is  he  coming  on  deck  ?"  "  Wall,  I  jist  calc'late  he  ain't  a-going 
to  do  nothing  else ;  there  he  comes,  too,  with  Michigan  and 
Arkansas." 

We  arrived  at  Vera  Cruz  in  the  evening ;  but  it  was  some- 
time before  we  were  able  to  land.  The  getting  out  of  the 
"  Walker"  into  the  boat  was  a  work  of  difficulty,  so  rough  was 
the  sea.  At  last,  ourselves  and  carpet  bags  were  dropped  in,  the 
former  by  some  ingenious  sleight  of  foot,  very  creditable  to  our 

activity.  His  Excellency  and  Mr.  P had  already  gone  on 

shore,  and  we  found  Mr.  P ,  and  some  other  of  onr  fellow- 
passengers  waiting  on  shore  to  receive  us  and  escort  us  to  the 
hotel.  The  American  Consul  at  Vera  Cruz  was  so  good  as  to 
take  us  on  shore  in  his  boat. 

The  glorious  Orizava  was  only  dimly  visible  in  the  distance, 
owing  to  some  slight  mist.  The  town,  I  thought,  looked  beauti- 


EFFECTS  OF  A  NORTHER.  163 

ful  from  the  sea.  It  is  the  fashion  to  abuse  Vera  Cruz  (no  doubt 
its  situation  and  climate  are  odious),  but  its  sixteen  grand  domes 
and  cupolas,  its  battlements,  and  picturesque  buildings  are  very 
striking.  .  ^ 

The  hotel  we  are  in  is  in  the  great  "  Plaza,"  almost  close  to 
the  fine  old  cathedral,  and  opposite  to  the  former  palace,  now 
partly  used  as  a  prison.  On  the  other  side  are  seen  handsome 
houses,  bearing  severe  marks  of  the  bombardment  of  the  city  by 
General  Scott.  We  found  it  very  hot  when  we  first  came  here, 
but  rejoiced  much  at  the  speedy  prospect  of  a  norther.  It  came, 
indeed ;  but,  alas !  though  to  some  extent  we  were  benefited,  it 
was  at  the  expense  almost  entirely  of  light  and  liberty. 

Thus  it  was — instead  of  windows,  except  one  tiny  pane  in  the 
door,  there  are,  as  it  were,  large  wooden  gates,  or  very  huge 
clumsy  rough  doors  opening  on  to  the  indispensable  balcony  :  when 
the  norther  blows  at  all  severely,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  close 
these  great  portals,  or  your  room  would  be  full  of  sand  ;  and,  be- 
sides, you  would  be  blown  out  of  it.  Therefore,  we  were  made 
melancholy  prisoners  of,  and  taken  into  close  captivity  by  ourselves  ; 
and,  iu  spite  of  all  our  precautions  in  the  night,  our  balcony-doors 
blew  open,  and  my  little  girl  and  I  were  almost  blown  away,  beds 
and  all. 

There  are  an  enormous  number  of  "  sopilotes"  here — a  kind  of 
turkey-buzzard,  vulture,  or  carrion  crow,  or  cousin-german  to  all 
three  ;  and  these  are  the  feathered  scavengers  of  the  place.  "  I 
calc'late"  they  have  no  sinecure  office,  and  so  they  occasionally 
appear  to  opine  themselves,  for  you  see  the  omnivorous  black 
creatures  looking  very  grave  and  contemplative,  sometimes  motion- 
less and  quiet  as  a  row  of  mutes,  solemn  and  gloomy  as  a  con- 
gregation of  undertakers,  and  you  look  upon  the  dismal  sight,  and 
begin  thinking  of  sextons  and  "black  jobs"  (as  I  have  seen  funerals 
described  in  matter-of-fact  England) ;  when  suddenly  up  goes  one 
undertaker  with  a  whizz,  and  away  goes  another  with  a  whirr,  to 
make  room  for  a  fresh  set. 

The  castle  of  St.  Juan  d'Ulloa,  which  commands  Vera  Cruz,  is 
built  on  the  little  island  bearing  the  same  name,  about  four  hun- 
dred fathoms  from  the  shore  :  it  is  said  to  be  a  strong  citadel. 
Its  northwest  angle  supports  a  light-house,  with  a  splendid  re- 
volving light,  nearly  eighty  feet  above  the  sea. 

The  harbor  is  reckoned  a  very  insecure  one,  the  anchorage  so 
bad  that  the  vessels  are  not  considered  safe  unless  made  fast  to 
rings  of  brass,  which  are  fixed  for  the  purpose  in  the  walls  of  the 


164  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA.    ' 

castle.  Still,  however  disadvantageously  situated,  Vera  Cruz  may 
boast  of  considerable  commercial  importance,  although,  of  late 
years,  Tampico,  with  rather  a  superior  port  in  a  less  unhealthy 
part  of  the  coast,  has  been  rapidly  springing  into  consequence. 

Vera  Cruz  was  founded  about  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  on  the  very  spot  where  Cortez  first  landed.  There  had, 
however,  been  a  small  town  there  before  that  event,  which  by 
Cortez  himself  was  called  "  Villa  Rica  de  la  Vera  Cruz."  Philip 
III.  bestowed  on  it  the  titles  and  privileges  of  a  city  in  1615.  A 
French  squadron  took  the  castle  in  1838,  but  shortly  afterward 
abandoned  it  and  restored  it  to  the  Mexicans.  The  Americans 
again  captured  it  under  General  Scott,  and  it  remained  in  their 
possession  till  the  ratification  of  the  articles  of  peace. 

While  the  foreign  trade  of  Mexico  was  carried  on  exclusively 
by  the  jftota,  which  sailed  from  Cadiz  periodically,  Vera  Cruz  was 
celebrated  for  its  "  fair,"  held  when  the  ships  assembled  at  its 
port;  but,  in  1778,  the  abolition  of  this  system  of  regular  fleets 
put  an  end  to  this  fair,  as  also  to  the  yet  more  famous  and  splen- 
•  did  one  of  Porto  Bello. 

The  houses  here  seem  all  built  in  the  ancient  Spanish  or  Moor- 
ish style,  ordinarily  inclosing  a  spacious  square  court,  with  broad 
covered  galleries.  They  have  commonly  balconies  in  front.  The 
foot-paths  are  usually  under  the  shelter  of  arcades,  which  is  very 
pleasant  in  hot,  sunny  countries. 

This  hotel,  where  we  meet  with  great  civility  and  attention,  is 
kept  by  a  Scotchman,  very  considerably  Mexicanized — (poor  man, 
he  is  in  very  bad  health,  and  the  climate  seems  to  be  slowly  poi- 
soning him).  The  housekeeper  is  a  German,  and  she,  on  the  con- 
trary, appears  to  be  more  intensified  in  her  nationality  by  the  pro- 
cess of  transplantation.  She  seemed  perpetually  in  a  high  state 
of  saur-kraut,  and  utterly  Teutonic.  She  was  very  kind  and 
good-natured  indeed  to  jus,  although  frequently  she  had  declined 
altogether,  we  were  told,  the  felicity  of  lodging  ladies  in  the  hotel. 

She  explained  to  me,  in  a  remarkably  intelligible  mixture  of 
Mexican-Spanish,  English,  French,  German,  Indian,  Scotch,  arid 
any  thing  else  that  came  into  her  head,  leaving  it  to  me  to  un- 
ravel them,  her  reasons  for  this  occasional  indisposition  on  her 
part  to  receive  guests  of  her  own  sex. 

"  Mexican  ladies  mit  ther  airs  muy  desagradables.  Von  Seno- 
ra,  wife  of  a  General,  come  here,  sehr  cross,  sulky.  No  canny,  I 
tink,  head.  Gone,  loco.  Order  comida  for  she  and  de  General, 
husband  Muy  bueiia  it  was  ;  I  help  cook  it.  Todos  good,  when 


GERMAN  HOUSEKEEPER.  165 

she  see  it,  no  taste  it,  take  it  all  todos  up,  and  troze  it  all  at  cook's 
cabeza  !  There  !  wat  you  tink  o'  dat  ?  The  Senora  got  no 
comida,  nein — soup,  frijoles,  chickens,  todos  she  trowed  in  cook's 
cara,  mit  her  zwei  hands  !  And  O  ciel !  dere  was  dinner,  disshes, 
and  todos  on  floor.  De  General,  husband,  poor  man  (he  blind) 
hear  noise — came  to  mich,  say  '  Muy  schlecht,  me  can't  help,  he 
a'most  cry,  pobecity!  lose  him  dinner  too.  Hoot  awa,  a  bonny 
Senora  dat,  madame." 

But,  if  her  languages  were  wonderful,  so  were  her  gesticulations. 
Impressive  indeed  they  were.  While  her  voice  was  pitched  an 
unusual  height  to  suit  and  make  up  for  the  Babel  of  languages  in 
which  she  was  constrained  to  utter  her  sentiments,  she  spoke  with 
great  rapidity.  Suddenly  she  changed  the  scene  from  Mexico  to 
Hanover,  where  it  appeared  she  had  been  housekeeper  to  a  gentle- 
man who  was  an  acquaintance  of  our  late  kind  Duke  of  Cam- 
bridge. 

"  The  English  Herzog  Cambridge,"  she  exclaimed,  "  wat  von 
good  prince  dat  !  Come  von  day,  all  out,  tous,  Madame,  come  to 
mich,  Cambridge  did — "  (I  think  the  good  frau  did  not  intend 
any  disrespect  to  the  royal  Duke  by  thus  familiarly  speaking  of 
him,  but,  not  knowing  what  Herzog  was  in  English,  when  she 
did  not  use  the  German  word  she  was  quite  at  fault).  "  Well, 
Cambridge  say,  tell  the  family  I  comes,  eh  1  Ha,  ha  !  he  laugh, 
sehr.  Good  nature  prince — oui,  madame,  ja,  always  smiie  and 
laugh.  O  !  how  unlike  cross  lady  mit  General  husband  !" 

She  then  proceeded  to  tell  some  wonderful  stories  about  the 
Herzog,  and  cows  and  fresh  milk,  and  a  party  and  a  country- 
house,  iiacienda,  but  the  extraordinary  patchwork  of  languages 
defied  all  comprehension — patchwork  ? — nay,  it  was  more  like 
silks  of  mixed  colors :  German,  shot  with  French,  and  that  shot 
over  again  with  English,  and  crossed  with  Spanish.  She  seized 
my  hands  every  now  and  then  as  if  about  to  give  me  a  lift  to  as- 
sist the  understanding,  but  I  was  in  a  hopeless  state.  There  was 
a  whirl  of  haciendas  and  Hanoverians,  and  generals,  and  chick- 
ens, and  herzogs,  and  cows,  &c.,  in  one's  brain  ;  a  human  wind- 
mill, a  living  telegraph,  making  signs  at  the  rate  of  a  million  a 
minute  before  me — and  all  was  confusion  and  mental  darkness. 
She  continued,  however,  fast  and  furious  ;  and  the  chief  actor  in 
this  scene  was  evidently  perfectly  satisfied  ;  she  was  exceedingly 
diverted,  and  intensely  interested  by  her  own  tale.  Now  she 
seemed  almost  on  the  point  of  cheering  herself  with  hearty  bravos, 
and  now  she  successfully  melted  herself  almost  to  tears,  speaking 


166  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

in  the  most  pathetic  accents,  with  clasped  and  wrung  hands. 
We,  not  having  the  most  remote  notion  at  this  juncture  what  par- 
ticular form  of  human  grief  she  was  representing,  were  at  a  loss 
to  console  her. 

As  a  housekeeper  she  was  very  superior  indeed,  and  most  kind 
and  obliging  did  we  find  her.  She  kept  the  hotel  in  admirable 
order,  and  seemed  to  be  running  about  from  morning  till  night. 
If  any  of  the  Criadas  or  Mozos  neglected  their  duties,  there  was 
the  detachment  of  Hanoverian  light  horse  after  them  instanter — 
trot,  trot.  She  had,  however,  an  unpleasant  custom  of  keeping 
part  of  the  broad  galleries  that  ran  round  the  house  in  a  perpetu- 
ally flooded  state,  from  the  gigantic  scale  of  washing  operations 
that  seemed  always  going  on  there.  At  times  the  soap-sud  break- 
ers ran  so  fiigh,  it  was  a  matter  of  great  difficulty  to  pass  them 
with  safety,  and  a  small  life-boat  was  quite  a  desideratum. 

We  walked  in  the  Alameda,  yesterday  evening,  for  a  short  time, 
escorted  by  the  American  Consul  here,  who  is  a  gentlemanlike 
and  well-informed  person.  He  served  in  the  Mexican  war,  and 
told  us  many  very  interesting  anecdotes  respecting  it.  The  Ala- 
meda is  pretty  enough.  At  the  further  end  a  fandango  was  going 
on :  the  music  sounded  rather  pleasing  in  the  distance. 

Not  far  from  this  spot  is  the  beginning  of  a  railroad,  which,  say 
the  Americans,  may  perhaps  be  finished  in  five  hundred  years : 
it  is  intended  to  be  carried  on  to  Mexico.  The  streets  here  are 
wide  and  handsome,  and  clean  too ;  thanks,  probably,  in  great 
part,  to  the  solemn  scavengers,  I  have  before  mentioned. 

Now  that  the  norte  is  gone,  we  almost  live  upon  the  balcony. 
From  thence  we  saw  an  enormous  train  of  packed  mules  the  other 
day.  It  seemed  almost  never-ending,  as  it  came  into  the  Plaza : 
the  whole  place  appeared  alive  with  them,  when  they  stopped  and 
were  collected  together  and  unloaded.  The  mules  looked  strong 
and  well  fed ;  they  appeared  to  have  a  few  little  affairs  of  honor 
to  settle  with  their  comrades  on  their  arrival,  for  a  variety  of  kicks 
were  interchanged  ;  and  it  was  some  time  before  the  "party  of 
order"  gained  the  ascendant. 

We  have  made  acquaintance  already  with  a  number  of  tropical 
fruits,  through  the  kind  care  of  our  German  friend.  AS  yet  I 
like  none  of  them  much.  There  were  sapotes,  bananas  (those 
however  were  old  acquaintances),  Grenaditas  di  China,  as  they 
called  them — mamey,  and  others.  The  living  at  this  hotel  is  ex- 
tremely good  (though  of  course  the  cooking  is  Mexican)  ;  and  we 
have  certainly  on  no  occasion  thrown  the  repast  at  our  Mozo's 


DEPARTURE  FOR  MEXICO.  167 

wild  Indian  head.  He  is  an  extraordinary  genius,  this  same  Mozo 
who  usually  waits  on  us ;  for  he  actually  comprehends  my  Span- 
ish, and  except  a  few  very  trifling  mistakes,  such  as  bringing  me 
a  jug  of  hoiling  water  instead  of  ice,  or  clearing  away  all  the 
things,  when  I  ask  for  a  few  more,  we  manage  quite  capitally.  I 
am  perpetually  asking  him  for  bread,  and  potatoes  and  other  veget- 
ables, and  mHk  ;  for  at  sea  we  were  deprived  of  all  these  pleasing 
articles  of  food,  and  the  two  latter  are  very  good  here.  He  seems 
satisfied  in  his  own  mind,  as  he  brings  fresh  papas,  and  more  leche 
and  pan,  that  we  came  from  a  country  where  cows  are  unknown, 
vegetables  ungrown,  and  bread  wholly  unheard  of,  and  that  we 
are  duly  delighted  with  our  new  Mexican  fare. 

We  have  received  several  visits  from  the  English  Consul  and 
his  son.  Mr.  Giffbrd  is  good  enongh  to  give  us  all  the  necessary 
information  with  regard  to  our  journey  to  Mexico,  and  to  lend  us 
a  couple  of  small  trunks  in  the  place  of  our  large  ones,  which  he 
advises,  for  several  good  and  sufficient  reasons,  should  be  left  be- 
hind at  Vera  Cruz.  We  have  been  detained  about  a  week  here  in 
consequence  of  the  diligences  being  so  full,  it  was  impossible  to  get 
places.  After  considerable  difficulty,  our  asientos  are  now  secured. 
Our  kind  friend,  the  American  minister,  started  some  time  ago. 

The  cortege  had  altogether  an  imposing  effect.  Eight  stout 
mules  were  attached  to  the  huge  carriage,  and  a  large  escort  of 
dragoons,  drew  up  before  the  front  of  the  hotel.  These,  I  believe 
a  short  time  before  the  diligence  started,  trotted  off  to  wait  for  it 
at  the  gates. 

The  diligencias  always  leave  Vera  Cruz  about  ten  o'clock  at 
night,  for  the  heat  of  the  day  would  render  the  journey  almost  in- 
supportable, especially  to  the  poor  mules,  who  have  to  drag  the 
unwieldy  vehicle  through  the  hills  of  sand  which  cause  the  first 
part  of  this  journey  to  be  very  wearisome  and  disagreeable. 

We  were  on  the  balcony  when  the  United  States  minister  took 

his  departure.  With  him  was  Mr.  P ,  a  walking  arsenal,  and 

a  movable  powder-magazine,  determined  no  ladrone  should  annex 
his  goods  and  chattels.  He  said  laughingly  to  us,  "  I  have  just 
thirty-seven  shots  to  give  them,  if  they  attempt  to  meddle  with 
me." 

His  Chilian  servant  did  not  look  quite  so  light-hearted  as  his 
master ;  he  marched  gravely  behind  the  bushy  bulwarks  of  his 
own  enormous  mustaches  in  rather  a  darkly  contemplative  mood. 
However,  I  believe  (like  his  nation  in  general),  he  is  a  right 
brave  man,  and  probably,  if  he  entertained  any  apprehension,  it 


168  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

was  of  the  gunpowder  magazine  inside  the  diligence  blowing  up, 
as  such  an  explosion  was  not  impossible,  taking  lighted  cigars  into 
account ;  and  it  would  have  been  an  unpleasant  and  unprofitable 
way  of  quitting  existence—on  the  road  to  California  too  !  which, 
he  and  his  master  were. 

Mr.  P told  me,  he  has  always  had  Chinese  servants  at 

Mazatlan,  this  Chilian  being  almost  the  only  exception.  He  says 
they  are  the  best  servants  imaginable — quick,  obliging,  attentive, 
and  trustworthy. 

Lord  M.  Kerr  started,  very  shortly  after  his  arrival  here,  for 
Mexico.  He  rode  part  of  the  way,  in  order  to  be  able  to  stop 
when  he  chose,  to  sketch :  a  Mexican  guide  accompanied  him. 
He  thought  of  taking  the  diligence  from  Jalapa,  I  believe,  and 
after  going  for  some  distance  by  that,  perhaps  riding  again. 

The  bawling  the  watchmen  make  here,  is  astonishing  and  alarm- 
ing. They  seem  to  be  in  the  habit  of  perpetually  frightening  peo- 
ple to  death,  to  assure  them  that  they  are  safe.  Imagine  all  the 
dogs  of  Constantinople  in  profound  affliction  and  pain,  and  you 
may  form  some  idea  of  the  howling  of  Vera  Cruzian  serenos. 
They  have  that  pretty  name,  not  certainly  from  the  state  into 
which  they  have  suddenly  aroused,  and  horribly  startled  the  un- 
fortunate slumberers,  but  because  in  the  Mexican  climate  in  gene- 
ral, the  state  of  the  weather  (which  they  have  to  report),  is  cloud- 
lessly fine,  and  so  they  are  constantly  crying  a  yelling  tempestuous 
sereno  :  the  rest  of  their  terrible  hollabulloo,  I  believe,  consists  of 
the  hour,  and  "  Ave  Marie  purissima." 

We  have  seen  some  very  picturesque  Mexican  peasants  and 
horsemen.  The  women's  dress  with  the  flowing  reboso  is  very 
graceful.  These  rebosos  are  long,  colored  scarfs,  and  are  crossed 
about  in  some  peculiar  manner,  which  has  a  pretty  effect.  The  men 
wear  enormous  hats,  with  silver  cords  twisted  round  them,  very 
wide  trowsers,  which  are  slashed  up  the  side  of  the  leg,  and  splendid 
serapes  of  many  hues,  which  are  tossed  about  in  every  imaginable 
shape  and  manner : — it  seemed  to  me  as  if  no  two  were  ever 
worn  alike.  Their  horse-furniture  is  generally  handsome,  and 
their  profusely  ornamented  saddles  are  (Dominie  Sampson  would 
eay)  "  prodigious." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Mexicans — Climate  of  Mexico — Luxuriance  of  its  Vegetation — Beauty 
of  its  Flowers  and  Birds — Jalapa — The  Journey  from  Vera  Cruz — The 
State  of  the  Roads — The  Diligence — A  formidable-looking  Passenger — 
Cornish  Miners  in  Mexico — The  Inn  at  Perote — English  Hardware  in 
Mexico — Hacienda  of  General  Santa  Anna — General  Scott  and  the  Pas- 
sage of  the  Chapparal — Puente  Del  Rey — The  Mountains  of  Mexico- 
Orizaba — Its  magnificent  Height — Cathedral  of  Puebla — Mexican  Spurs 
— Rio  Frio— Popocatapetl — National  Character  of  the  Mexicans. 

WE  have  had  a  delightful  journey  from  Vera  Cruz,  excepting 
always  the  frightful  roughness  of  the  roads.  I  believe,  since  the 
days  of  the  Spanish  dominion,  they  have  never  heen  repaired 
or  touched.  General  Scott's  artillery  could  have  done  them  no 
good  ;  but  there  they  remain  unmended.  Formerly,  it  is  said, 
this  road  was  the  finest  in  the  world.  No  doubt  the  standard 
was  not  very  high  in  those  days :  Macadamization  had  not  seen, 
the  light,  and  the  French  pave  had.  But  from  the  very  ruins  of 
the  road  you  can  form  an  idea  of  the  former  excellence  of  it.  The 
loose  stones  lying  about,  over  which  you  bound  with  such  excru- 
ciating jolts,  were  originally  part  of  a  fine  pavement,  which  every 
now  and  then,  indeed,  for  a  very  short  distance,  you  roll  over,  and 
which  has  withstood  ruin,  rain,  revolutions,  and  that  old  gentle- 
man with  the  sharp  scythe,  who,  though  supposed  to  fly,  continues 
to  leave  very  deep  footmarks  wherever  he  treads — and  where  does 
he  not  ? 

If  the  Mexicans,  instead  of  manufacturing  their  three  hundred 
revolutions  since  their  independence,  had  spent  the  time  and 
money  devoted  to  these  topsy-turvy,  useless  pursuits,  and  busied 
themselves  in  improving  their  internal  communications,  develop- 
ing the  natural  resources  of  their  magnificent  country,  and  ad- 
vancing the  education  of  the  people — what  might  Mexico  be  ? 
What  might  it  not  be  at  this  moment  ?  If  a  calculation  could  be 
made,  and  they  could  ascertain  what  they  might  have  accom- 
plished with  the  money  and  means  and  misdirected  energies  that 
they  have  applied  to  such  worse  than  idle  purposes,  would  they 
not  regret  their  folly  ?  No,  not  a  bit,  I  dare  say  ;  though,  but  for 
their  many  internal  sources  of  weakness,  in  all  probability  they 
might  have  successfully  withstood  the  Americans,  and  remained 
in  possession  of  California,  and,  in  course  of  time,  discovered  what 

II 


170  TRAVELS  IN  AxMERICA. 

that  possession  implied.  This  might  have  heen  better  and  more 
patriotic  in  the  end  than  playing  at  revolutions,  unhinging  the 
whole  country,  and  upsetting  every  thing,  as  if  this  were  really  a 
desideratum  and  advantage  to  a  nation. 

As  to  the  extreme  natural  beauty  we  beheld  during  the  almost 
magical  journey  from  Vera  Cruz  to  the  capital,  no  words,  I  feel, 
can  adequately  describe  it.  We  passed  through  every  variety  of 
climate,  each  with  its  own  peculiar  productions,  with  splendid 
snow-topped  mountains  crowning  the  scene,  themselves  crowned 
by  the  gorgeous  magnificence  of  the  resplendent  tropical  heavens. 
Such  mornings !  such  sunrises  !  heaven  and  earth  seemed  meeting, 
as  it  were,  and  mingling  in  glory  without  end.  Such  nights ! 
heaving  and  blazing  with  stars.  Those  glorious  masses  of  stars 
seemed  almost  coming  down  on  our  little  world  :  nearer  and 
nearer  they  seemed  to  shine,  as  if  drooping  under  the  weight  of 
their  immense  glory  and  majesty,  and  sinking  toward  us!  You 
know  what  the  Neapolitan  embassador  said  to  George  the  Second  : 
that  the  moon  of  the  King,  his  master,  was  far  better  than  His 
Majesty's  sun.  I  wish  he  had  seen  the  stars  of  Mexico,  which  I 
think  are  not  very  unlike  Italian  moons  ;  and  her  moons  like  great 
white  suns,  and  her  suns  like  the  skies  on  fire.  Certainly  the 
heavens  in  the  tropics  are  marvelously  glorious — but  earth  is  so 
beautiful  here,  too. 

One  morning,  at  sunrise,  coming  from  Puebla,  we  saw  the 
great  mountain,  Orizaba,  reflecting  the  light  of  the  rising  lumin- 
ary, and  looking  as  if  it  was  literally  made  partly  of  gold  and 
partly  of  fire,  so  gloriously  was  it  beaming  back  those  dazzling 
splendors  from  its  huge  crest  of  glittering  snow.  Between  Jalapa 
and  Perote,  and  still  more  between  Vera  Cruz  and  Jalapa,  the 
astonishing  prodigality  and  unutterable  magnificence  of  the 
tropical  vegetation  is  perfectly  overpowering  !  I  could  not  have 
believed,  without  beholding  it,  that  such  a  Paradise  remained  to 
this  world  !  Such  colors — such  blooms — such  forests  of  flowers  ! 
Such  inconceivable  luxuriance  of  foliage  and  fruit !  You  can  not 
for  a  moment  "  begin  to  imagine"  the  glories  of  these  scenes — 
their  inexhaustible  variety — their  indescribable  exuberance — their 
extraordinary  and  matchless  brilliancy  of  coloring  ! 

Nature  seems  like  a  perpetual  miracle  there.  It  made  us  think 
of  the  sumptuous  Sultana  in  the  "  Arabian  Nights' "  tales,  who 
changed  her  regal  dress  twelve  times  a  day.  Just  try  to  fancy  in 
those  marvelous  regions  endlessly-spreading  colossal  bowers,  under 
a  green  overhanging  firmament  of  uptowering  trees,  and  such 


MEXICAN  FLOWERS.  171 

bowers  too  !'  Myriads  of  flowers  of  a  hundred  colors,  crowding 
coronal  upon  coronal ;  and  these  again  intertwined  and  over- 
twined,  and  round  and  through,  and  sub  and  supertwined  with 
others,  and  others  still !  It  seemed  as  if  there  was  really  going  to 
be  a  flood  of  flowers,  and  this  was  the  first  flow  of  the  dazzling 
deluge :  a  gorgeous  deluge  indeed  that  would  be — its  own  rain- 
bow. There  were  innumerable  roses,  interwreathed  with  convol- 
voluses,  flowering  myrtles,  aloes,  cherimoyas,  floripundias  (a  mag- 
nificent sculpture- like,  bell-shaped  flower),  the  verdant  liquidamber, 
jessamines,  and  others,  with  creepers  and  parasitical  plants,  fes- 
tooning and  trailing  themselves  about  with  the  very  wildest 
luxuriance,  so  that  often  the  coiled  and  heaped-together  boughs 
and  branches  appear  to  bear  hundreds  of  different  sorts  of  leaves 
and  flowers  at  once  ! 

One  of  the  most  magnificent  flowers  I  ever  saw,  grows  on  a 
tree  of  considerable  dimensions  (if,  indeed,  it  is  not  a  parasitical 
plant),  and  looks,  with  its  multitudinous  clusters  of  large,  gorgeous, 
and  vivid  scarlet  blossoms,  like  a  pyramid  of  planets  in  a  blaze,  or 
a  candelabra  of  comets,  with  forty  thousand  branching  flames  in 
all  directions.  These  were  most  beautifully  contrasted  by  the 
snowy  white  lilies  I  have  spoken  of  before,  which  literally  lined 
the  road-side  in  many  places. 

In  short,  altogether,  it  was  quite  bewildering.  One  felt  that 
one  would  fain  have  ten  thousand  eyes  to  see  with,  and  ten  thou- 
sand senses  to  admire,  appreciate,  and  realize  (I  must  go  back  to 
the  United  States  for  the  right  word)  all  the  immensity  and 
variety  of  those  wondrous  royal  realms  of  Nature.  I  have  said 
that  the  leaves,  branches,  flowers,  fruits,  stems,  seemed  all  con- 
fusedly intermingled,  and  matted,  and  massed  together  in  beauty. 
There  were  heaps  of  cactuses  garlanded  with  wildernesses  of 
roses ;  there  were  floripundias  coiled  about  with  creepers  that 
seemed  almost  moving  in  their  wild  life-like  grace  ;  besides  count- 
less other  labyrinthine  complications. 

But  I  have  said  nothing  of  the  splendid  birds,  that  like  ani- 
mated rainbows  and  winged  sunbeams  were  darting  about  amid 
these  transcendent  scenes.  But  it  is  quite  useless  to  attempt  to 
describe  these  unimaginable  regions — one  might  as  well  strive  to 
convey  in  words  a  glorious  strain  of  the  most  exquisite  music. 

After  leaving  Puebla,  we  mounted  up  so  high,  that  it  b*>came 
quite  cold ;  and  at  Perote,  too,  where  we  slept  one  night,  we 
should  have  been  glad  of  a  little  fire  !  There  the  vegetation  was 
chiefly  confined  to  pines  and  firs.  We  had  extremely  hot  weather 


172  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

for  the  first  day's  journey ;  but  we  had  a  delightful  and  most  re- 
freshing rest  at  Jalapa,  which  is  a  place  of  enchantment — a  little 
Cashmere  of  delights — a  very  kingdom  of  roses.  The  climate  is 
reckoned  very  good,  and  the  poor  Vera  Cruzians  fly  there  to  tako 
refuge  from  their  terrible  vomito  (the  dreadful  Vera  Cruz  fever). 

I  think  this  lovely  Jalapa  is  unlike  any  town  I  have  ever  seen 
any  where  :  its  houses  and  streets  do  not  seem  to  take  away  the 
country  air  of  every  thing  belonging  to  it.  In  those  garden-beau- 
tified, quiet,  picturesque  streets,  you  feel  as  far  out  of  the  hard,  and 
stale,  and  work-a-day  world,  as  if  you  were  in  the  midst  of  a  vast 
savanna,  or  the  shadowy  recesses  of  an  untrodden  forest.  I  can 
hardly  tell  why  it  is  so,  but  so  it  seemed  to  me.  Diligences  seem 
to  rattle  there,  and  busy  travelers  to  congregate  in  vain :  all,  still, 
appears  quiet,  all  peaceful,  and  holiday-like  at  Jalapa.  It  seems, 
as  it  were,  consecrated  by  its  own  beauty. 

And  Nature  has  so  much  to  say  there  !  Her  flowery  treasures 
fill  the  streets  and  courts  with  their  odoriferous  delights.  Her 
glorious  mountains  and  hills  look  upon  you  there  in  a  hundred 
beauteous  shapes. 

We  found  a  delightful  hotel  in  that  exquisite  town — all  gal- 
leries, and  balconies,  and  arcades,  and  courts  ;  and  to  breathe  the 
delicious  air  of  balmy  Jalapa  alone,  is  a  pleasure.  Is  the  reader 
aware,  that  the  not  delicious  medicine,  whose  name  closely  resem- 
bles that  of  this  fair  town,  is  produced  from  a  root,  which  grows 
in  great  profusion  near  it  ?  From  this  place  it  takes  its  name  ; 
and  as  this  association  is  not  particularly  charming,  I  prefer  spell- 
ing the  word  in  the  old  way,  "  Xalapa."  What  a  fall  from  roses 
and  floripundias,  to  tumble  down  to  this  nauseous  drug !  But  I 
believe  the  flower  of  this  same  plant,  is  a  very  beautiful  convolvu- 
lus. Very  useful  it  is,  no  doubt  ;  and,  in  this  utilitarian  age  per- 
haps, more  to  be  thought  of,  than  poor  Flora's  daflydowndilly 
treasures,  and  roses  and  posies. 

The  dreaded  first  stage  from  Vera  Cruz,  I  did  not  find  so 
dreary  as  I  expected.  Our  escort  met  us  at  the  gates  of  the  town 
and  our  eight  mules  went  gallantly  on,  till  the  deep  loose  sand  re- 
duced the  gallop  to  a  trot,  the  trot  to  a  walk,  and  the  walk  even 
at  times  almost  to  a  stand-still :  some  parts  of  the  way  we  went 
washing  the  wheels  of  the  cumbrous  diligencia  actually  in  the  sea. 
There  seemed  to  be  no  regular  road,  just  there,  or  if  there  was, 
the  coachman  evidently  disregarded  it,  for  it  could  not  be  supposed 
it  led  through  the  sea. 

Afterward  we  came  to  a  very  heavy  part  of  the  road ;  it  seem- 


STATE  OF  THE  ROADS.  173 

ed  all  the  mules  could  do,  to  tug  us  through,  and  a  great  deal  of 
time  was  consumed  in  this  slow  battle  with  the  sand. 

We  stopped  to  breakfast  at  a  very  nice  pavilion-like  place. 
There  we  were  ushered  into  a  very  pretty  airy  room,  where  the 
breakfast  was  already  prepared,  on  a  large  round  table.  Senor 

N ,  a  friend  of  the  English  Consul,  who  had  been  introduced 

to  us  by  him  at  Vera  Cruz,  was  one  of  our  fellow-passengers. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Mexican  Congress,  and  appears  a  highly- 
informed  person.  He  speaks  French  and  English  very  fluently. 
He  was  exceedingly  obliging,  and  did  the  honors  of  the  diligence 
and  the  hotel  admirably  ibr  us. 

They  have  a  very  pretty  plan  in  some  of  these  country  "  fondas," 
of  putting  up  windows  of  dark  blue  glass,  which  shed  a  delight- 
fully cool  light  through  the  room.  This,  however,  is  rare,  for  or- 
dinarily there  are  no  windows  at  all,  only  the  great  doors  I  men- 
tioned before. 

From  Jalapa,  we  had  an  American  coachman,  who  drove  ex- 
tremely well ;  but  the  road  was  frightful.  The  diligences,  and 
the  hotels  that  they  stop  at,  all  belong  to  one  person,  a  rich  and 
enterprising  Mexican  gentleman,  who  has  done  much  to  improve 
the  communication  between  Vera  Cruz  and  the  capital,  and,  I  be- 
lieve, between  Mexico  and  Guadalajara  as  well,  which  line  also 
belongs  to  him.  But  there  is  much  room  for  further  improve- 
ment. 

Some  of  the  stages  are  a  great  deal  too  long — above  all,  on  such 
infamous  roads  ;  and  while  several  of  the  hotels  are  exceedingly 
comfortable  and  well-conducted,  others  are  of  the  most  primitive 
description,  and  amply  furnished  with — nothing ;  at  least,  nothing 
that  you  can  profitably  and  pleasantly  make%se  of. 

The  roads  are  horrible.  Every  now  and  then  came  an  un- 
earthly jolt,  that  tossed  us  all  up  like  shuttlecocks  to  the  ceiling, 
and  made  one  think  really  some  drivers,  in  despair  had  left  their 
foundered  wagons  on  the  way,  or  General  Scott  some  broken  can- 
non, which  we  in  our  frisky  diligence  had  taken  a  flying  leap  over. 
Our  involuntary  flights  to  the  ceiling  and  back,  were  like  the 
short,  fluttering,  up-springings  of  the  poor  pigeons  of  Loo,  which  I 
used  to  commiserate  so  much  when  hawking  there  :  they  were 
thrown  up  to  attract  the  hawks,  and  then  jerked  back  again. 

At  other  times  we  felt  we  were  droping  into  a  chasm,  that  seem- 
ed desirous  of  emulating  the  mammoth  cave  in  dear  "  old  Kentuck." 
We  found  we  had  our  own  heads  "  in  chancery"  sometimes,  pretty 
nearly,  and  the  whacks  and  thumps  that  all  got,  were  tremendous. 


174  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

At  length,  the  much-abused  diligencia  came  to  a  dead  stop, 
heart-broken — or  spring-broken  at  any  rate,  as  we  discovered  ;  and 
this  accident  revealed  to  us  the  astounding  fact  that  these  diligen- 
cias,  actually  pretended  to  have  springs,  which  otherwise  we  should 
not  have  dreamed  of.  We  were  all  requested  to  descend,  while 
the  huge  vehicle  was  raised  and  the  injury  temporarily  repaired, 
by  the  united  efforts  of  the  coachman  and  an  American  gentleman, 
who  was  an  outside  passenger,  on  his  way  to  California.  At  last 
we  mounted  the  high  steps,  and  were  placed  on  the  wheels,  or 
"  the  tvheel,"  again. 

The  spirited  proprietor  of  these  coaches,  should  arrange  that  an 
"experienced  surgeon"  should  accompany  them  in  their  journeys. 
It  might  be  useful  practice,  too,  for  a  few  young  beginners — as 
good  as  walking  the  hospitals. 

We  saw  a  beautiful  waterfall  in  the  distance,  on  the  way  to 

Perote,  which  Colonel  A (a  friend  of  Senor  N — . — )  first 

pointed  out  to  us.  saying  it  was  a  "  Catarata,"  like  Niagara  :  the 
first  it  was,  and  a  very  pretty  one :  the  last  I  must  beg  to  be  ex- 
cused from  admitting. 

We  had  a  steep  hill  not  far  from  this  place,  long,  but  not  tedi- 
ous, and  so  just  the  reverse  of  that  sermon,  Canning  characterized 
as  "tedious,  though  not  long."  The  road  on  both  sides  was  bor- 
dered with  the  most  enchanting  natural  gardens  of  flowers  of  all 
hues.  Hesperides  (and  of  any  extent)  for  hedges,  or  instead  of 

them  !  Colonel  A gathered  us  some  delicious  flowers,  and 

our  great  barge  on  wheels  looked  as  cheerful  as  the  Russian  treil- 
laged  cages  in  which  ladies  at  St.  Petersburg!!  used  to  sit  (I  know 
not  if  the  fashion  continues)  in  their  drawing-rooms,  playing  at 
summer  and  the  soifth. 

We  drove  on  merrily,  with  our  gallant  escort  galloping  and 
prancing  by  the  side  of  the  stage,  the  flags  on  their  lances  flutter- 
ing gayly  in  the  wind  (and  themselves  all  sarajjes  and  mustache, 
showing  only  the  point  of  a  nose,  and  two  dark  eyes  in  addition), 
and  with  our  curious  collection  of  articles  within,  such  as  roses 
and  revolvers,  convolvuluses  and  cigars,  books  and  bowie-knives, 
escopetas  and  oranges,  gunpowder  and  sugar-plums,  fans,  parasols, 
and  pistols.  I  forgot  to  mention  how  our  kind  Hanoverian  house- 
keeper loaded  us  with  generous  gifts  of  tea  and  sugar,  and  fruit, 
and  cakes,  which  she  good-naturedly  insisted  on  our  taking.  It 
was  rather  perilous,  however,,  to  have  loose  parcels  in  the  vehicle, 
as  they  were  flung  about  in  all  directions  ;  and  you  stood  a  chance 
now  of  having'  a  tea-canister  in  your  eye  ;  now  a  huge  packet  of 


CORNWALL  MINERS  IN  MEXICO.  175 

sugar  struck  you  on  the  nose ;  and  now  the  basket,  but  not  the 
oranges  (these  were  acting  the  part  of  cannon-balls,  and  knocking 
people  about  right  and  left),  was  on  the  point  of  trying  to  go  down 
your  throat. 

Frightful  present  dangers  make  one  forget  remoter  perils ;  and 
the  alarm  occasioned  by  these  active  missiles,  and  also  the  serious 
terror  with  which  we  contemplated  our  brave  defenders,  made  us 
think  but  little  of  robbers — but  this  requires  explanation  assuredly. 
It  must  be  told  that  the  passengers  were  superabundantly  armed 
— they  frequently  declared  no  danger  was  to  be  apprehended  in 
consequence  of  their  having  such  a  heap  of  firearms  among  them, 
from  which  I  begged  leave  to  differ.  Now  imagine  an  old  "  esco- 
peta"  loaded,  and  frequently  pointed  at  your  head  during  the  mad 
jumps  of  that  lumbering  and  eccentric  vehicle,  that  seemed  play- 
ing with  an  invisible  skipping-rope,  and  constantly  catching  its 
feet  in  it ;  a  large  covey  of  pistols  performing  curious  circuits  in 
the  air,  occasionally  in  the  hands  of  their  valiant  owners,  and 
various  other  similar  murderous  instruments  of  defense,  which 
were  enough  to  make  your  hair  stand  on  end,  considering  the  posi- 
tion they  placed  themselves  in  with  reference  to  your  brains,  during 
the  plungings  and  prancings  of  that  wild-colt  like  coach. 

At  one  of  the  "ventas"  we  took  in  a  gentleman  who  looked  like 
the  Tower  of  London  on  its  travels,  such  an  arsenal  had  he  hung 
round  his  belt.  At  the  first  glance  you  might  have  taken  him  for 
the  commander-in-chief  of  all  the  brigands  in  Mexico,  but  you 
would  have  been  widely  mistaken.  This  was  a  most  pacifically 
disposed  and  pleasant  English  gentleman,  Mr.  G ,  a  superin- 
tendent of  the  far-famed  Guanajuato  mines,  who  had  been  in 
Mexico  about  twenty  years  without  losing  a  jot  or  particle  of  his 
English  manners,  way  of  speaking,  or  appearance,  although  it  is 
by  no  means  the  existing  fashion  in  Hyde  Park,  or  even  on  the 
Northwestern  Railway,  to  hang  your  waist  round  with  pistols, 
and  other  such  belligerent  ornaments.  He  told  us  the  mines  of 
Guanajuato  (which  place,  we  were  told,  the  Cornwall  miners  who 
work  there  pronounce  invariably  "  Go-aud-a-quarter")  have  been 
extraordinarily  productive  during  the  last  year,  they  having  yielded, 
in  1849,  8,400,000  dollars,  which  is  above  half  a  million  more 
than  they  did  last  year.  New  mines  have  been  opened,  and  the 
improvements  in  the  methods  and  machinery  are  said  to  be  very 
extensive. 

Mr.  G told  me,  on  the  whole,  the  preference  was  perhaps 

to  be  given  to  native  workmen  over  those  from  Cornwall,  in  con- 


176  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

sequence  of  the  latter  being  so  addicted  to  drinking,  and  to  quar- 
reling with  one  another — at  least  in  Mexico.  Already  round 
Guanajuato  there  are  more  than  a  hundred  mines,  and  nearly 
eighty  thousand  workmen  are  employed. 

When  we  arrived  at  Perote,  I  was  rather  terrified  at  the  first 
aspect  of  the  meson;  but  presently  reflected  it  was  of  course  only 
the  mules'  stables  we  saw,  and  I  felt  consoled  for  a  brief  space  of 
time ;  but  on  descending  from  the  diligence,  what  was  my  con- 
sternation to  find  that  those  rough-looking  stalls,  which  I  was 
rather  compassionating  the  poor  mules  for  having  to  inhabit,  were 
destined  to  be  our  apartments  !  They  were  almost  exactly  in  size 
and  every  thing  else  like  rudely-built  loose  horse-boxes,  the  chief 
difference  being  that  there  were  small  beds  instead  of  straw  in 
them,  and  a  very  little  table  fastened  against  the  wall,  with  a 
couple  of  mouldy-looking  chairs.  Window  there  was  none  of  any 
sort  or  kind. 

Notwithstanding  the  rugged  appearance  and  appointments  of 
our  quarters,  they  gave  us  a  very  good  dinner  (after  stoutly  refusing 
to  let  us  have  any  thing  unless  we  went  to  the  public  table  which 
I  declined,  and  almost  while  still  reiterating  "  Nada,  nada  !  no  es 
posible !"  they  brought  it),  and  a  very  civil  muchacfta  waited  on 
us.  All  the  plates  and  dishes  at  all  the  mesons  we  stopped  at  on 
our  way  from  Vera  Cruz  to  Mexico,  have  the  eagle  and  nopal  (the 
arms  of  Mexico)  on  them,  and  inform  the  hungry  traveler,  in  very 
conspicuous  characters,  that  they  belong  to  the  service  of  the  dili- 
gencias  generates,  and  all  of  them  are  made  in  busy  England,  ex- 
pressly for  this  line.  That  sweet  little  island  of  ours,  as  we  know, 
likes  to  have  a  finger  in  every  pie  and  pie-dish  ! 

We  saw  an  immense  conducta  during  our  journey.  A  vast 
number  of  mules  were  carrying  silver  from  the  mines  to  the  coast. 
It  was  a  very  gay,  and  pretty,  and  interesting  sight.  It  seemed 
as  if  there  was  a  whole  regiment  of  soldiers  escorting  the  specie- 
burdened  rnules. 

Perote  is  reckoned  a  sort  of  metropolis  of  the  ladrones.  It  is 
said  the  diligence  has  on  several  occasions  been  pillaged  at  the 
very  gates  of  this  gloomy  and  wild-looking  town.  We  came  at  a 
very  fortunate  time.  About  a  week  before,  a  diligence  had  been 
stopped  and  plundered,  and  the  brigands  were  taken  and  suffered 
capital  punishment.  This  had,  of  course,  struck  terror  into  the 
rest  for  the  time,  and,  with  a  strong  escort,  we  felt  very  secure, 
except  from  the  six-shooters  and  escopetas  of  our  friends. 

The  specimen  we  had  of  the  latter  weapon  might  have  figured 


GENERALS  SCOTT  AND  SANTA  ANNA.  177 

in  a  museum,  as  an  antique,  with  credit  to  itself,  and  less  danger 
to  others,  than  loaded  and  in  a  loaded  diligence  :  it  looked  horrible, 
really,  in  the  hands  of  a  raw,  inexperienced  Spanish  youth,  who, 
with  his  brother,  had  just  arrived  from  Spain,  to  settle  in  Mexico 
— with  some  relation,  I  believe.  It  probably  dated  from  about  the 
time  of  the  great  Spanish  Armada. 

It  appeared  to  me  they  allow  the  diligencia  travelers  any 
amount  of  dawdling-time  that  they  require.  Sometimes,  when 
the  mules  were  all  ready,  the  greater  part  of  the  passengers  would 
be  lounging  about  with  their  cigars,  keeping  the  rest  of  the  "gentle 
public"  waiting  :  when  it  suited  their  pleasure,  the  agreeable  sound 
"  vamos,  caballeros"  was  heard,  and,  ere  long,  we  were  off.  I 
must  confess,  however,  it  is  very  likely  at  these  times  the  stage 
may  have  been  a  little  before  its  time,  and  this  was  the  reason  the 
"  caballeros"  were  allowed  to  stretch  their  cramped  limbs  for  a 
little  longer  period. 

I  ought  to  have  mentioned  before,  that  we  passed  a  fine-looking 
hacienda,  or  quinta,  that  belonged  to  General  Santa  Anna.  It 
had  a  deserted,  melancholy  appearance  ;  but  whether  it  still  is  his 
property  or  no,  I  know  not.  It  is  between  Vera  Cruz  and  Jalapa ; 
and,  I  believe,  many  other  Juiciendas  between  these  two  places 
are,  or  were,  his.  We  also  came  by  the  famous  battle-field  of 
Cerro  Gordo. 

The  American  whom  I  mentioned  before  (and  who  was  a  very 
gentlemanlike,  intelligent  person,  with  very  quiet  manners,  though 
bristling  with  arms  like  a  fortress)  pointed  out  to  us  the  field,  on 
which  he  had  Ibught.  He  gave  us  an  animated  account  of  the 
battle ;  and  so  near  the  spot,  and  described  viva  voce,  it  was  very 
interesting.  So  well  too  did  he  tell  his  tale  of  war  that  we  were  fain 
to  shoulder  our  very  parasols  in  martial  sympathy.  He  told  how 
General  Scott  had  cleared  the  passage  through  the  Chapparal, 
making  a  circuit  of  a  few  miles,  and  thus  gaining  the  side  of  the 
hill  that  looked  to  the  northeast,  the  most  easy  of  access,  and 
which  it  appeared,  was  not  so  well  defended  as  the  rest.  The  hill 
has  two  peaks. 

General  Scott  gained  one,  and  the  American  forces  charged 
down  the  slope  and  up  the  steep  in  front  of  them,  "  even  where 
the  deadliest  of  War's  death-bolts  showered"  from  the  thundering 
batteries  of  the  foe.  The  battery  was  taken,  and  the  cannons 
played  against  the  retreating  Mexicans,  who,  broken,  and  disor- 
dered, fled  impetuously  through  the  Chapparal.  Santa  Anna 
with  some  difficulty  eflected  his  escape. 

H* 


178  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

Cerro  Gordo  itself  is  a  mere  Indian  village,  of  transparent-look- 
ing cane  huts.  Paul  Pry  need  not  "  drop  in"  to  such  dwellings 
to  see  all  that  is  going  on  in  the  household. 

We  passed  by  the  ruins  of  a  very  fine  stone  bridge  across  the 
river,  near  Plan  del  Rio,  another  assemblage  of  bamboo  huts, 
which  was  burned  by  Santa  Anna  on  the  advance  of  "  Los  Yan- 
kees." This  bridge,  we  were  told,  the  Mexicans  blew  up,  hoping 
thus  to  stop  General  Scott's  artillery.  Others  say,  it  was  to  hin- 
der the  passage  of  an  American  specie  train,  en  route  from  Vera 
Cruz.  In  six  hours  after  this  destruction  was  completed,  Los 
Yankees  had,  with  their  usual  quickness  and  ability,  made  a  capi- 
tal road  across  the  chasm,  which  not  only  answered  their  purpose 
at  the  time,  but  which  remains  to  answer  that  of  ours,  and  all 
other  travelers ;  for  the  sacrificed  bridge  has  never  been  restored 
by  the  Mexicanos. 

Puente  Nacional,  formerly  "  Puenta  del  Rey,"  is  in  a  savagely 
beautiful  glen,  through  which  the  river  sparkles  and  dashes  in  its 
passage  to  the  Gulf.  Rivers  are  very  rare  in  Mexico,  and  there 
are  no  large  ones  in  the  country. 

I  have  said  nothing  yet  of  the  Coffre  di  Perote.  It  is  13,514 
feet  high,  and  its  crest  is  distinguished  by  a  mass  of  rock,  that  is 
shaped  much  like  a  chest,  from  which  the  mountain  takes  its 
name.  I  did  not  very  much  admire  this  same  Coffre  di  Perote  : 
what  is  it,  compared  with  glorious,  unmatched,  unmatchable  Ori- 
zaba ?  In  Mexico  you  become  quite  difficile  about  your  mount- 
ains ;  you  pick  and  choose,  select,  reject.  The  ten-thousand-footer 
on  this  side  seems  like  a  mere  upstart  mushroom  of  a  mountain, 
and  the  eight-thousand-feet-high  hobble-de-hoy  on  that  side  is 
really  a  ridiculous  little  molehill,  a  Tom  Thumb  on  tiptoes,  look- 
ing tall  with  all  its  might,  but  a  poor  dwarf,  after  all.  As  to  the 
clouds  upon  it,  they  must  be  mere  grovelers  of  clouds,  very  much 
addicted  to  low  company,  to  hover  so  much  about  it :  mountain 
indeed  !  We  will  perhaps  allow  it  to  be  something  like  the  lofty 
artificial  garden-mounds  in  a  Chinese  picture,  which  the  lady, 
with  her  little  club  foot  slightly  raised,  is  going  to  step  over  with 
such  careless  ease. 

But  now,  Orizaba,  come  into  court ;  let  us  have  a  look  at  you. 
Majestic  Orizaba,  thou  art  indeed  magnificent !  What  is  there 
in  the  world  like  thee  ]  standing  alone,  and  thus  in  thy  "  single 
blessedness"  towering  to  thy  mighty  height  of  seventeen  thousand 
eight  hundred  feet !  (Some  writers  give  it  eighteen  thousand  feet. 
It  is  said  to  be  the  only  mountain  of  equal  height  on  the  earth 


MEXICAN  SPURS.  179 


that  thus  rises  detached  and  apart  from  all  others  in  its  lofty  soli- 
tude, communing  with  only  heaven).  Thou  "  star-mountain," 
with  the  dazzling  summit  of  perpetual  snows,  so  pure,  and  cold, 
and  bright,  in  the  face  of  the  burning  sun  of  the  tropics  !  How 
beautiful  are  the  girdling  forests  of  cedars  and  pines,  and  other  trees 
that  adorn  the  giant  sides  of  that  consummate  Orizaba. 

At  Puebla  I  was  sorry  not  to  see  the  inside  of  the  Cathedral  ; 
which,  to  judge  from  the  exterior,  must  be  well  worth  a  visit.  It 
is  considered  by  the  Pueblanos  to  be  partly  of  angelic  architecture 
— and  well  did  the  celestial  stone-masons  do  their  work. 

Puebla  was  called  on  this  account  "  Puebla  da  los  Angeles." 
The  mortal  workmen  must  have  felt  a  very  mortal  jealousy  of 
these  winged  laborers  ;  but  history  says  not  whether  in  conse- 
quence of  diminished  wages,  there  was  any  strike.  Naturally  (or 
supernaturally),  the  immortal  builders  left  their  earthly  competi- 
tors far  behind,  both  in  the  rapidity  and  perfection  of  their  work. 
This  superstition  is,  of  course,  chiefly  confined  to  the  Indians. 

We  were  too  much  charmed  with  the  peace  and  quiet  of  our 
hotel  to  stir  out  that  evening.  Certainly  the  luxury  of  not  bound- 
ing about  like  an  India  rubber  ball,  banging  your  head  against 
the  hard  coach,  and  wrenching  your  hands  almost  off"  in  the  vain 
effort  to  steady  yourself,  can  only  be  appreciated  by  those  who  have 
been  tossing  on  the  stormy  surface  of  that  great  highway  from 
Vera  Cruz  for  some  days.  Puebla  is  a  very  large  town,  and  a 
handsome  one  ;  •  it  has  an  immense  population  of  spurs,  cloaks, 
sombreros,  and  rebosos  (for  we  could  see  but  little  of  the  enveloped 
wearers),  which  perpetually  paraded  the  streets. 

We  saw  some  most  beautiful  spurs  of  wrought  silver  for 
sale  at  one  of  the  places  we  stopped  at  :  the  workmanship  was 
exquisite.  The  spurs  were  not  quite  the  size  of  a  wagon-wheel 
(without  the  rim),  but  might,  perhaps,  on  a  pinch,  serve  in  that 
capacity.  The  would-be  sellers  of  them  brought  them  to  the 
window  of  the  diligence,  to  tempt  us.  We  admired  them  very 
much — not  their  size,  but  the  extreme  beauty  of  the  designs, 
which  were  most  delicately  executed  upon  them.  All  praised, 
but  none  purchased  :  peradventure  though  a  present  of  sharp  spurs 
might  have  been  a  good  hint  to  the  worthy  gentlemen  who  some- 
times deign  to  interest  themselves  in  the  temporal  affairs  of  travel- 
ers (and  to  relieve  them  from  the  troublesome  charge  of  that  plague, 
baggage — a  good  hint  that  they  were  welcome  to  use  them  and 
make  themselves  scarce  at  their  earliest  convenience),  yet  it  would 
have  hardly  been  worth  our  while  to  encumber  ourselves  with 


180  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

these  huge  articles,  in  order  to  lay  them  at  the  feet,  and  fix  them 
on  the  heels,  of  these  gallant  gentlemen. 

The  name  of  the  place  where  those  beauties  were  offered  us  for 
sale  has  slipped  my  memory  ;  but  well  do  I  remember  the  road 
which  followed.  Indeed,  it  was  sufficient  to  have  jogged  any 
memory  in  the  world.  To  this  day  it  is  to  me  a  mystery  how  we 
ever  arrived  alive  at  this  city  of  Montezuma.  Instead  of  being  a 
road  to  this  beauteous  place,  it  would  seem  to  be  a  succession  -of 
barriers  and  obstacles  expressly  designed  to  keep  you  from  it. 

When  the  tribulation  of  jolting  had  a  little  subsided,  and  peo- 
ple began  picking  up  their  parcels  and  packages,  a  fresh  trial  await- 
ed us  :  it  was  a  sort  of  dust  ordeal  now  that  we  had  to  pass 
through.  "  Hombre  !  que  polvo  !  dispense,  V.  Caballero,  sirvase 
V.  levantar  los  vidrios."  "  Si,  Senora,  con  mucho  gusto,"  and  up 
went  the  windows  on  both  sides,  but  soon  to  come  down  again, 
for  it  was  too  hot,  full  as  the  carriage  was,  to  keep  them  closed 
long,  Oh,  what  a  dust  was  that !  Methinks  I  shall  never  hear 
people  talk,  or  see  them  write  of  the  dust  of  their  ancestors  with 
patience  again — it  will  seem  so  disrespectful  to  compare  them  to 
such  an  unmitigated  nuisance.  Such  dust,  and  such  quantities  of 
it!  Had  it  been  gold  dust,  we  might  have  become  very  valuable 
freight  before  we  drove  into  the  court-yard  of  the  Casa  di  Diligen- 
cias  here.  As  it  was  we  might  have  had  a  good  crop  of  Magveys 
in  the  "  coche,"  or  any  thing  we  pleased,  for  we  had  become  quite 
landed  proprietors  of  the  soil,  so  deeply  spread  was  it  over  our 
large  light  shawls  and  various  habiliments. 

Ilio  Frio  was  the  last  breakfasting-place  we  stopped  at,  and 
here  it  began  to  rain,  while  the  travelers  were  devouring  their  rice 
"  guisados,"  "  frijoles,"  and  chocolate.  Presently  out  rushed 

Mr. in  great,  haste,  leaving  his  "  Almuerzo,"  with  a  huge 

umbrella  opened,  and  consternation  in  his  countenance  ;  but  it 
was  not  to  protect  from  the  ram  yonder  muchacha  with  the  black 
streaming  hair,  nor  certainly  that  decrepit  old  dame  with  the  tat- 
tered reboso.  No  :  it  was  for  the  precious  pistols  exposed  on  the 
box-seat  (or  rather  what  is  called  the  pescante)  to  the  storm  ; 
having  carefully  placed  the  big  umbrella  upon  these  sweet  little 
pets,  he  returned  to  his  repast,  with  a  clear  conscience.  The 
welcome  drops  began  to  patter  down  fast  ;  however,  soon  it  be- 
came rather  too  much  of  a  good  thing,  and  the  day  became  chilly 
and  clouded.  It  is  said,  though,  at  Hio  Frio  it  is  always  cold, 
and  almost  always  windy ;  it  was  both  that  morning. 

I  trembled  for  the  view — the  "  hermosissima  vista" — of  Mexico 


CHARACTER  OF  THE  MEXICANS.  181 

and  its  vast  valley  of  enchantment — that  glorious  valley,  which  is 
about  a  hundred  miles  in  extent,  and  a  whole  world  of  beauty 
and  magnificence,  and  fertility  in  itself !  We  had  seen  a  splendid 
sunrise,  and  had  a  grand  view  of  Popocatapetl,  this  morning,  but, 
I'appetit  vient  en  mangeant,  and  we  were  longing  ,to  gaze  at  sun- 
down on  the  valley  of  valleys,  with  its  stupendous  guardian  chain 
of  encircling  mountains,  its  majestic  capital,  with  a  thousand 
domes,  and  towers,  and  terraces,  in  the  centre  ;  its  lakes  like  glit- 
tering sheets  of  silver ;  and  all  the  glories  that  those  among  our 
fellow-passengers,  who  had  been  there  before,  described  with  great 
and  vehement  enthusiasm  and  rapture. 

In  mentioning  Popocatapetl,  I  ought  not  to  have  neglected  the 
other  grand  volcano,  Iztaccihuatl,  for  they  are  not  very  far  from 
each,  and  do  not  affect  a  surly  solitude  like  that  sturdy  old  bache- 
lor, Orizaba.  "  Iztaccihuatl,"  or  the  "  White  Lady,"  might 
seem  to  be  the  fair  and  gia-cious  bride  of  stately  "  Popocatapetl." 

Not  a  word  have  I  saidabout  Malinche,  another  but  a  smaller 
volcano.  It  is  said  to  be  about  thirteen  thousand  feet  high,  and 
is  a  very  majestic  mountain.  The  name  is  the  Aztec  alteration 
for  Marianna,  the  beauteous  Indian  wife  of  Cortez.  Then,  of 
Cortez  himself,  and  of  his  battle-fields,  I  have  said  naught,  nor  of 
the  wonderful  Pyramid  of  Cholula,  with  its  splendid  and  Titanic 
terraces  marked  out  against  the  sky — that  marvelous  work  of  the 
marvelous  Aztecs. 

One  word  of  the  people  in  this  loveliest  of  all  countries,  or  that 
vast  accumulation  of  sarapes  and  whiskers,  which  I  presume  to 
be  the  people.  They  would  appear,  to  judge  by  the  outward  man, 
or  rather  the  outward  mantle  and  mustaches,  to  be  a  ferocious 
and  mysterious  set  of  personages,  but  I  believe  they  are  neither 
one  nor  the  other  ;  a  little  treacherous,  perhaps,  and  a  little  chol- 
eric occasionally,  fond  of  pronunciamentos,  and  pulque ;  au  reste, 
full  of  contempt  for  all  foreigners,  whom  they  call  disdainfully 
"  Los  Gringos"  (except  their  first  cousins,  the  Spaniards,  who  are 
nicknamed  "  Los  Gachupinos"),  and  superlatively  so,  it  strikes 
me,  as  far  as  I  have  yet  seen,  for  their  conquerors  the  Yankees. 
They — that  is  at  least  the  prouder  and  richer  classes  of  Mexico, 
appear  generally  to  mention  the'm  with  a  kind  of  sneering  shrug, 
which  seems  to  say  "  hombre  !  we  could  have  beaten  them ;  but, 
only  in  short — the  stars  were  more  in  fault  than  we  !" 

I  think  the  Americans  have  done  good  to  the  country  and  the 
people  in  some  respects.  I  should  be  inclined  to  believe  that  there 
is  now  a  greater  craving  for  education,  a  deeper  sense  of  its  desir- 


182  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

ableness  and  necessity,  than  before  the  war.  I  am  told  great  num- 
bers of  young  Mexicans  of  good  family  go  to  the  United  States 
now  to  be  educated,  and  they  will  come  back,  of  course,  with  vast- 
ly enlarged  views,  and  developed  powers  of  intellect. 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

Mexico  when  First  conquered — Cortez  and  Montezama — The  musical  Gen- 
tleman— Mexican  Plants  and  Flowers — The  Cathedral  in  the  City  of 
Mexico — Arrival  of  the  Diligence  at  the  Hotel — The  Passengers — M.  de 
Zurutuza — Appointments  of  the  Hotel — Mexican  Pronunciamientos — The 
Mexican  Lady  and  her  Flowers — The  Form  of  Government  best  suited 
for  Mexico — The  Streets  of  Mexico — The  Passengers  and  Vehicles — The 
Shops — Rebosos  and  Sarapes — Picturesqu^Costume  of  the  Mexicans. 

IT  was  not  possible  to  roll  along  the  broad  causeway  leading  to 
Mexico — that  causeway  made,  if  I  am  correctly  informed,,  by  the 
ancient  Indians,  and  not  think  of  the  days  of  old,  when  along  that 
magnificent  road  marched  the  hosts  of  Cortez  in  their  pride  and 
power — the  gallant  Spanish  chivalry — while  before  their  wondering 
eyes  rose  the  city  of  ten  thousand  enchantments,  the  unspeakably 
beautiful  Tenochtitlan,  like  the  capital  of  the  Eastern  King  of  the 
Genii,  spreading  over  and  covering  its  beautiful  islands,  with  its 
palaced  streets,  that  swarmed  with  gay  canoes — its  temples,  its 
groves,  its  floating  gardens,  its  crystal  seas,  covered  with  barques 
(those  majestic  lakes  which  are  now  so  diminished  and  reduced), 
and  all  its  unimaginable  beauties  of  art  and  nature — all  that  un- 
rivaled valley-world  which,  shut  out  from  the  rest  of  earth,  scarcely 
seems  to  belong  to  that  earth — fenced  and  walled  round  by  its 
glorious  giant  mountains,  leaning  their  snowy-helmed  foreheads 
against  the  stars,  and  reflecting  themselves  in  those  silver  waters, 
as  if  they  repented  of  leaving  such  a  scene  of  enchantment,  and 
thus  returned  and  haunted  it  ever. 

What  a  vision  must  this  have^been  to  the  eyes  of  the  Spanish 
conqueror,  arid  those  of  his  adventurous  followers,  when,  too,  they 
saw  the  splendid  procession  advancing  from  the  gates  of  the  glorious 
city  to  meet  them — the  mighty  monarch  of  the  Aztecs,  the  im- 
perial Montezurna,  surrounded  by  his  court,  his  richly  appareled 
chieftains  ;  in  short,  as  says  one  of  the  old  Spanish  writers,  about 
two  hundred  nobles  of  the  royal  blood,  "  vestidos  di  librea  con 


CORTEZ  AND  MONTEZUMA.  183 

grandes  penachos  conformes  en  la  hechura  y  el  color descal- 

zos  todos  y  sin  levantar  los  ojos  de  la  tierra,  acompanamiento  con 

apariencias  de  procesion; y  se  vio  a  los  lejos  una  gran  tropa 

de  gente  mejor  adornada  y  de  mayor  dignidad  en  cuyo  medio  venia 
Montezuma  sobre  los  hombros  de  sus  favorecidos,  en  unas  andas  de 
oro  brunido,"  &c.  !  Montezuma  himself,  with  "el  semblante 
magestuoso  con  algo  de  intencion.  Su  trage  un  man  to  de  sutilisimo 
algodon,"  finest  cotton  ! — though  there  were  no  Manchester  mills 
in  existence,  and  not  a  spinning  jenny  to  help  them.  "  Trahia 
sobre  si  difierentes  joyas  de  oro,  perlas,  y  piedras  preciosas  en  tanto 
nurnero,  que  Servian  mas  al  peso,  que  al  adorno,"  &c. 

This  probably  the  Spaniards  thought,  and  kindly  in  their  own 
minds  resolved  to  relieve  him  of  such  a  cruel  weight,  and  any  of 
his  friends  and  followers  who  were  similarly  inconvenienced.  Then 
on  approaching  nearer,  they  sa\w  the  mighty  Emperor  of  the 
Aztecs  descend  from  his^fesplendent  palanquin  (canopied  with 
glittering  and  many-colored  decorations  of  feather-work)  and  ad- 
vance to  meet  the  Spanish  commander,  leaning  on  the  arms  of 
two  of  his  relations,  the  Lords  of  Tezcuco  and  of  Iztacpalapan. 

In  coming  from  Vera  Cruz  you  do  not  enter  Mexico  by  the 
most  beautiful  approach,  and  we  had  unfavorable  weather ;  at 
least  the  enormous  volumes  of  dust,  like  the  columns  of  sand  in  the 
Desert,  hid  the  greater  part  of  the  sublime  prospect  from  our  eyes. 
Still,  here  and  there  we  had  glimpses  of  its  almost  supernatural 
beauty,  and  of  the  majesty  of  those  nfbuntains,  which  seem  so 
jealously  to  surround  it,  and  shut  in  all  that  fairy  land  of  loveliness, 
that  seems  a  "  locked,  and  guarded,  and  a  treasured  thing." 
Around  those  giant  heights  clung  light  fleecy  clouds.  As  to  the 
exceeding  enchantment  of  what  even  those  glimpses  revealed,  it  is 
indescribable  ;  yet  M.  de  Lamartine  might  do  it  justice  (he  only 
has  portrayed  Constantinople  in  fitting,  living  words),  or  Eothen. 

Every  body  seemed  intensely  delighted  to  be  at  last  near  this 
Queen  of  Cities.  One  cigar-loving  Mexican  gentleman,  who 
seemed  very  pensive  all  day,  and  reduced  by  the  awful  shaking 
and  jolting,  and  the  dust,  and  the  after-storm  of  mire,  to  the  merest 
remains  of  a  powder-puff,  a  jelly,  an  expiring  whiff  of  tobacco,  and 
a  splash  of  mud,  suddenly  picked  himself  up,  and  put  himself  to- 
gether again,  and  began  actually  to  sing  for  very  joy  (it  was  a  very 
quavering  strain,  I  confess,  as  if  the  voice  had  not  got  over  the 
rough  treatment  it  had  received)  :  he  was  very  like  a  musical  box 
tuned  up  and  set  a-going  mechanically,  for  he  never  ceased  this 
strain  for  a  moment — the  time  was  unaltered,  the  expression  the 


184  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

same,  or  rather  the  non-expression  ;  and  this  long  series  of  sliakes 
continued,  neither  lower  nor  higher,  quicker  nor  slower,  uninterrupt- 
edly to  be  poured  forth  till  we  stopped  at  the  hotel. 

I  with  my  little  party  had  been  fortunate  in  one  respect,  for  we 
had  had  one  side  of  the  cache  secured  comfortably  to  ourselves.  I 
heard  an  amusing  answer  to  a  remark  that  was  made  one  day — 
that  our  danger  was  greater  from  within  than  from  without  (with 
a  glance  at  the  loaded  blunderbusses),  "  No  tieneV.  cuidadoly.no 
hay  mucho  peligro  !" — "  Do  not  fear ;  there's  not  much  danger." 

I  admired  exceedingly,  as  we  drove  along,  the  beautiful  Arbol 
de  Peru,  with  its  graceful  branches,  and  some  very  singular  cac- 
tuses, called,  I  am  told,  organos  from  their  remarkable  resemblance 
to  the  barrels  of  an  organ.  These  were  formed  into  extremely 
beautiful  hedges,  most  artistically  arranged,  so  as  to  grow  in  the 
shape  of  gigantic  festoons,  the  tallest  being  very  high.  They 
make  a  formidable  fence  too,  thickly  j*t  with  prickles,  almost  as 
good,  or  as  bad,  as  a  chevaux  de  frise.  There  were  some  Brob- 
dignagian  aloes  too  (the  Maguey),  with  leaves  about  a  dozen  feet 
long. 

In  coming  to  the  hotel,  we  drove  past  the  majestic  old  cathedral, 
situated  in  a  most  magnificent  plaza,  and  another  fine  church,  on 
crutches,  as  it  were,  so  was  it  propped  and  held  up,  while  its  huge 
form  seemed  leaning  over  the  street  very  threateningly.  This  was 
the  work  of  the  sharp  earthquake  which  had  nearly  destroyed  the 
city  some  years  ago.  People  say,  that,  if  it  had  lasted  two  minutes 
longer,  all  Mexico  would  have  toppled  over.  (So  it  really  must 
have  been  a  little  worse  than  our  diligencia-quakes.)  We  saw 
other  traces  and  symptoms  of  that  terrible  visitor,  as  we  rolled 
heavily  along,  behind  our  handsome  team  of  large  powerful  Yankee 
horses,  who  quickly  dragged  us  through  the  noble  and  populous 
streets,  over  which,  already,  the  shades  of  evening  were  beginning 
to  settle  ;  and  soon  our  fortification  on  wheels  rolled  into  the  court- 
yard of  the  Casa  di  Diligencias,  and  capitulated  at  discretion. 

The  doors  were  thrown  open,  we  made  a  movement  to  get  out 
— huge  volumes  of  dust  rolled  out  of  the  doors — hidden  awhile 
1from  mortal  eyes  and  each  other  in  these  floating  shrouds,  we  de- 
scended like  so  many  Apollos  and  Minervas  from  the  clouds,  and 
still  enwrapped  in  them.  The  living  musical  box,  enveloped  in 
mystery,  seemed  suddenly  to  come  to  the  end  of  its  mechanical 
melodies,  and,  clapping  on  its  huge  sombrero,  gave  a  jump  out  of 
the  vehicle,  that  must  have  broken  all  the  springs  and  works  in  its 
body,  and  vanished.  (Nota  Bene. — This  same  musical  box  was 


M.  DE  ZURUTUZA.  185 


pleasing  and  well-bred,  and  a  very  good  specimen  of  a  polished 
Mexican.)  The  different  passengers  evaporated  different  ways, 
and  we  found  waiting  to  congratulate  us  on  our  safe  arrival,  by 
the  side  of  the  diligence,  our  friends  Lord  M.  Kerr,  and  Mr.  P — , 
the  latter  buttoned  up  to  the  chin,  not  without  some  reason,  for 
the  evening  air  was  chilly ;  and  I  have  found  since,  the  mornings 
and  evenings  are  a  little  coldish  in  Mexico — at  least  at  this  time 
of  the  year,  yet  not  assuredly  nearly  so  much  so  as  in  the  spring  ia 
England.  In  the  day-time  it  is  quite  warm. 

I  found  Mexico  so  fashionably  full,  that  we  could  get  no  room 
of  any  sort  or  kind  at  the  Casa  de  Bazar,  where  I  had  intended  to 
go  (it  having  been  recommended  to  me),  but  we  are  very  comfort- 
able here.  This  hotel  is  the  property  of  the  Diligence-king  of 
Mexico,  who  is  master  of  about  a  hundred  or  more,  I  suppose. 
M.  de  Zurutuza  is  immensely  rich,  and  has  lately,  I  understand, 
purchased  a  magnificent  Q§fate,  for  which  he  gave  an  enormous 
price,  but  he  still  keeps  on  his  hotel.  Of  course  the  superintend- 
ence of  it  is  entirely  given  up  to  a  Prime  Minister,  who  administers 
the  affairs  with  great  zeal  and  discretion. 

There  is  a  capital  housekeeper  too,  who  showed  us  a  splendid 
suite  of  apartments  the  other  day  (M.  de  Zurutuza  being  away) 
which  are  reserved  for  the  proprietor.  They  are  luxuriously  fur- 
nished :  some  are  hung  with  pictures,  others  with  very  fine  French 
and  English  engravings.  There  is  a  superb  piano-forte  there,  ou 
which  we  were  graciously  invited  by  ihefemme  de  charge  to  play 
whenever  we  liked. 

Mr. called  the  day  after  we  arrived.  He  apologized,  as 

he  ought  to  do,  for  having  no  pretty  little  pronunciamientos  to 
show  us  just  at  this  moment,  which  seems  extraordinary,  as  there 
is,  it  is  well-known,  usually  a  running  revolution  going  on  in 
Mexico — perhaps  they  are  taking  breath  a  little,  after  the  Amer- 
ican war. 

This  national  sport  is  generally  not  quite  so  dangerous  as  steeple- 
chases or  fox-hunting,  and  far  less  so  than  bull-fighting.  It  is  de- 
scribed as  an  amusing  little  divertissement  enough,  and  the  pop- 
gunning  and  cannonading  must  have  a  lively  and  festive  effect. 

Altogether,  the  political  horizon  seems  to  be  very  cairn  and  clear 
just  now,  though  there  was  a  very  pretty  and  promising  little  re- 
bellion got  up  at  Puebla  about  ten  days  ago,  which  was  blighted 
in  the  bud,  and  one  here  about  the  same  time,  that  burst  like  a 
bubble,  or  a  "  biler"  on  the  Mississippi.  The  one  at  Puebla  broke 
forth  rather  tamely,  and  came  to  an  untimely  end — it  committed 


186  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

suicide,   perhaps,   with  a  precocious   squib,  or   an   inconsiderate 
cracker. 

It  really  seems  to  be  the  native  land  of  revolutions,  there  having 
been  about  three  hundred  and  thirty,  large  and  small,  since  the 
War  of  Independence.  Here  the  doctrine  of  compensation  is  ap- 
parent ;  people  can  not  be  allowed  to  live  in  such  a  paradise  for 
nothing.  We  may  go  on  and  enjoy  our  jog-trot  peace  and  quiet 
at  home  in  our  misty  little  island ;  we  have  to  keep  our  windows 
shut  to  exclude  the  fog  and  chilling  dropping  rain  :  it  would  be 
hard  to  have  them  broken  open  by  drizzling  cannon  balls,  and 
rather  expensive  too,  though  glass  is  cheap.  We  want  a  good 
roof  over  our  heads,  to  prevent  rude  Boreas  from  visiting  us ;  to 
have  it  summarily  blown  off  by  a  shell  would  be  a  double  hardship 
in  our  bitter  clime.  So  we  have  the  blessings  of  order,  as  main- 
tained by  our  metropolitan  and  rural  police ;  and  of  britannia 
warming-pans  and  coal-scuttles  :  and  the  non-blessings  of  fog,  ice, 
snow,  clouds,  east  winds,  and  unripe  gooseberries.  They  have 
glorious  suns,  and  balmy  airs,  and  mighty  mountains,  and  dazzling 
stars,  gold  and  purple  skies,  a  silver  earth,  and  insurrections  of 
every  pattern  and  species,  a  large  assortment  always  on  hand, 
agreeably  diversified  by  numerous  little  stabbings  and  killings,  by 
undisciplined  amateurs  ;  for  the  regular  promtnciamiento  must  be 
quite  a  profession  in  Mexico,  by  all  accounts,  and  is  conducted  on 
principles  of  high  art. 

However,  it  is  liable  to  abuses,  as  every  thing  else  is,  and  they 
say  if  the  little  boys  want  to  rob  an  apple-stall  they  get  up  a  small 
pi'onunciamientito,  and  call,  "  Viva  General  Santa  Anna,"  or 
any  body  else,  to  strike  terror  into  the  soul  of  the  Manzana-seller, 
and,  as  they  hope,  to  make  President  Herrera  shake  in  his  chair, 
and  then  they  rush  on  to  the  charge,  and  divide  their  apples  of 
discord  in  peace.  Such  a  Brummagem  pronunciamicnto  as  that, 
it  would  not  be  worth  while  to  see  ;  but  as  there  are  so  many  En- 
glish and  foreigners  in  the  city,  the  Mexicans  really  should  get  up 
scientifically  this  characteristic  little  national  spectable  for  their 
amusement  and  edification — though,  perhaps,  a  spontaneous  growth 
is  better :  forced,  like  early  asparagus,  these  interesting  little  in- 
surrections might  be  possibly  insipid. 

Talking  of  revolutions,  I  was  told  a  tale  of  a  lady  at  Puebla, 
who  had  some  beautiful  flowers  on  her  balcony,  and  who  neglected 
them  during  the  civil  war,  a  week  ago  (we  came  through  as  it 
was  dying  off,  I  believe,  but  we  were  rather  sleepy  and  did  not 
find  it  out  at  all).  She  left  them  for  nearly  three  days,  and  then, 


GOVERNMENT  FOR  MEXICO.  187 

afraid  that  they  would  be  quite  spoiled,  in  spite  of  the  peppering 
balls  that  fell  round  faster  than  usual  (the  popular  tempest,  just 
going  to  clear  off  perhaps  for  a  few  weeks  or  so,  was  expending  its 
Jast  strength  fitfully),  out  she  stepped,  on  her  fair  balcony,  armed 
with  a  watering-pot — not  so  bad  a  weapon  after  all,  if  it  could 
have  held  enough — and  proceeded  to  refresh  the  unlucky  flowers, 
some  of  which  had  had  their  heads  carried  off  by  bullets,  while 
several  were  bearing  scars  like  the  very  flowers  of  chivalry.  She 
watered  them  pretty  fast,  you  may  be  sure,  but  before  she  had 
done,  bang  came  a  great  ball,  and  cut  in  two  the  body  of  a  flower- 
pot. That  was  enough  ;  away  ran  the  lady  at  once,  th&king 
that  the  flowers  had  better  be  killed  than  herself. 

Some  contemplative  persons  would  say  the  people  would  be 
happier  than  they  are  now,  under  a  mild,  paternal,  unmistakable 
despotism,  and  it  is  rumored  that  the  army  and  the  church  would 
have  no  objection  to  furnish  them  with  the  said  despotism  on  rea- 
sonable terms.  But  then  each  individual  general  and  priest  would 
patriotically  wish  to  serve  the  public  in  the  capacity  of  autocrat, 
and  take  the  trouble  off  his  fellow-creatures'  hands.  But  I  am 
against  all  plans  of  this  sort,  and  any  thing  that  might  disturb 
that  just  equilibrium  of  compensation  I  have  adverted  to.  The 
people  would  be  too  happy,  positively ;  they  would  all  turn  to 
musical  boxes,  like  my  diligence  friend,  and  go  whistling  and  piping 
away  all  their  lives,  too  full  of  ecstasy,  perhaps,  to  work  or  think 
— crazed  with  very  bliss  in  this  Eden  of  the  earth. 

If  you  were  to  give  them  the  mighty  Nicholas,  and  his  firm, 
strong,  temperate  government — for  such  it  is — the  consequences 
might  be  frightful.  A  whole  people,  perhaps,  light-headed  from 
very  light-heartedness,  too  happy  for  any  thing  ;  a  nation  in  a  long 
delirium  of  joy  ;  intoxicated  with  felicity.  Besides,  they  would  be 
the  envy  of  the  whole  world  (with  their  climate,  their  country,  all 
their  advantages,  and  no  daily  battles),  and  thus  hated  of  all.  No ; 
they  ought  to  have  a  little  share  of  the  trials  of  mortals,  or  the  in- 
habitants of  the  rest  of  this  earth  would  feel  it  unfair  indeed  !  The 
Presidentship,  held  for  a  short  term  of  years,  must  be  a  fruitful 
source  of  jealousy  and  quarreling  in  general,  except  in  the  United 
States  ;  but  they  are  an  extraordinary  people,  there,  and  it  will 
not  do  to  step  in  a  giant's  footsteps,  unless  you  are  somewhere 
about  the  same  size,  and  with  a  nearly  equal  length  of  limb ;  un- 
less this  is  the  case,  there  is  a  great  chance  of  the  one  who  makes 
the  attempt  coming  upon  his  nose. 

I  should  think  that  the  good  people  here  (who,  without  being 


188  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

as  capable  of  self-government  as  the  calm,  thoughtful,  shrewd, 
resolute  Yankees,  are  intelligent  and  sensible)  would  be  far  happier 
if  they  would  first  take  care  to  get  a  very  good  President,  and  then 
take  care  to  keep  him  as  long  as  he  lives  ;  and  instead  of  changing 
state-postillions  at  relay-stations  only  a  short  way  apart — go  on  (as 
Eothen,  I  think,  says  of  marriage)  Vetturini-wise  along  to  the  end 
of  their  journey — at  all  events  as  far  as  he  can  take  them — and 
the  next  generation  may  find  a  new  one. 

The  streets  here  look  wonderfully  gay,  almost  always,  like  Naples 
on  a  holiday,  so  crowded,  and  so  brilliant,  though  the  people  are 
generally,  I  think,  more  serious  and  taciturn,  from  the  little  I  have 
seen  of  them,  than  the  Neapolitans.  But  there  are  such  multitudes 
of  them,  and  such  quantities  of  carriages  of  various  kinds,  from  the 
London  Brougham  or  the  Paris  britska  to  the  most  charming  orig- 
inal, aboriginal,  indescribable,  huge  nondescripts,  drawn  by  aston- 
ished looking  mules,  that  do  not  so  much  seem  to  be  trying  to  drag 
them,  as  attempting  to  race  away  from  them  with  might  and 
main,  utterly  scared  ;  *  and  they  really  look  as  if  they  were  about 
to  topple  over,  and  crush  every  thing  near  them.  Gare!  get  out 
of  the  way,  ye  very  mountains,  for  the  runaway  old  globe  seems 
taking  a  gallop — a  world  on  wheels. 

In  the  days  when  Montezuma  or  Guatamozin  was  emperor,  the 
Lord  Mayor  of  Tenochtitlan  might  have  gone  to  his  Guildhall  in 
such  an  awful  equipage,  in  his  full  dress,  thatched  all  over  with 
feathers,  and  with  a  couple  of  Aztec  Gogs  and  Magogs  standing 
behind  as  footmen.  However  comfortable  and  convenient  as  a  car- 
riage, a  Brougham  or  Clarence  may  be,  it  looks  almost  like  a  dapper 
piece  of  impertinence  by  these  time-honored,  venerable  vehicles. 
But,  Shades  of  all  the  Aztecs,  what  comes  there  ?  A  New  York 
omnibus,  as  large  as  life.  Retire,  gentlemen  shades,  at  once,  as  1 
should  have  done,  from  the  window,  had  I  had  one,  and  had  I  seen 
the  sight  from  there.  As  it  was,  it  was  from  the  glass  of  Mr. 
's  handsome  English  Brougham  that  1  beheld  it,  and  alto- 
gether I  could  hardly  believe  in  Aztec  chiefs  or  Indian  emperors 
any  more  that  day.  An  omnibus  with  "  Fourth  Avenue"  on  it. 

The  streets,  as  I  have  said,  are  the  gayest  in  the  world,  per- 
haps. They  are  generally  very  broad  and  clean.  The  portales 
are  charming  inventions :  you  have  a  wide  corridor  supported  on 
handsome  stone  arches,  with  very  brilliant  shops  on  the  solid  side, 

*  Since  I  wrote  this  I  have  seen  the  same  idea  in  Mr.  Taylor's  charming 
book,  "El  Dorado:" — he  must  forgive  the  apparent  plagiarism.  It  may, 
perhaps,  serve  to  show  how  exact  was  his  description. 


FRUIT-SELLERS.  189 


and  the  spaces  between  the  supporting  pillars  are  gayly  filled  with 
a  vast  variety  of  stalls,  where  you  may  buy  little  trays,  playthings, 
dazzling  sarapes  of  all  colors,  flowing  rebosos,  mangas,  tortillas  ad 
libitum,  tilmas  (Indian  cloaks),  dulces  (sweetmeats),  pictures,  little 
figures  of  saints,  prints,  shoes,  and  many  other  miscellaneous  articles. 
The  fruit-sellers  exhibit  their  tempting  piles  of  zapotes,  cocoa 
nnts,  and  all  sorts  of  fruit,  from  the  Tierra  Caliente,  at  the 
corners,  and  they  display  too  an  immense  number  of  glasses  and 
cups  filled  with  cool  and  refreshing  beverages  to  arrest  the  steps 
of  the  passer-by,  heated,  perhaps,  by  walking  in  the  sun,  before  he 
came  under  those  delicious  places  of  refuge  from  sun,  wind,  or 
rain ;  the  first  the  most  frequently  making  those  portales  desirable 
promenades.  As  I  have  seen  them  do  at  Naples,  in  the  busy  and 
stirring  Strada  Toledo,  so  in  Mexico  do  the  various  tradesmen 
constantly  pursue  their  occupation  in  the  open  air — <that  is  to  say, 
open  here — save  and  except  the  umbrageous  shelter  of  the  covered 
porticoes.  Of  course,  here  are  to  be  seen  innumerable  rebosos  and 
sarapes,  kaleidoscopically  diversified  in  both  patterns  and  colors ; 
a  marvelous  and  almost  endless  variety  of  both,  and  also  in  the 
manner  of  draping  them  about  the  person.  Look  at  that  little 
urchin*  of  perhaps  six  summers,  with  about  a  mile  of  glittering 
sarape  wound  around  him,  like  a  long,  huge  shining  snake  wreath- 
ing about  his  small  person ;  not,  however,  having  caught  that 
strutting  little  six-year-old  in  its  gleaming  coils,  but  being  scorn- 
fully clutched  and  grasped  and  scotched  (not  killed — for  it  looks 
living  in  its  spiral,  serpentining  grace — as  living  as  the  snake 
wound  round  Laocoon,  which  is  saying  a  very  great  deal !)  and,  in 
short,  tossed  and  thrown  about  at  his  will  and  pleasure ;  and  hmo 
he  stalks,  how  he  attitudinizes,  how  he  haughtily  paces  along 
(stepping  like  a  young  panther)  with  his  splendid  prey  and  prize  ; 
how  he  gives  the  brilliant  folds  another  proud  toss  over  his  shoul- 
ders— and  methinks  now  he  has  chosen  his  fashion  and  mode  and 
manner  of  wearing  the  magical  sarape,  for  ever  and  aye  uncopied 
and  uncopiable.  A  Mexican  and  his  sarape  seem  one  and  indi- 
visible, like  the  ancient  Centaurs  and  their  horses — inseparable 
and  the  same.  The  whole  dress  is  very  graceful ;  what  a  horror 
is  a  swallow-tailed  coat  in  comparison,  and  the  crown  of  all  the 
hideousness  of  modern  European  dress — the  tight  black  hat ;  how 
frightful  is  it  by  the  picturesque  sombrero,  with  its  delicate  silver 
cords  and  hanging  tassels.  They  sometimes  have  the  cord 
fastened  by  some  little  silver  wrought  bird  or  animal,  exquisitely 
finished. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

The  Cathedral  of  Mexico — The  Grand  Plaza — The  Palace — Importunity  of 
Beggars — Site  of  the  Cathedral  once  occupied  by  the  Grand  Aztec  Tem- 
ple— Description  of  the  Temple  by  old  Spanish  Writers — The  Interior  of 
the  Cathedral — The  Calendar  Stone  of  the  Aztecs — The  Stone  of  Sacri- 
fices— The  Aztec  Priests  and  their  Victims — The  Idol  worshiped — The 
National  Museum — Colossal  Statue  of  Charles  IV.  of  Spain — Armor  of 
Cortez  and  Pedro  de  Alvarado — "  El  Salto  de  Alvarado" — Ancient  Map 
of  Mexico — Beauty  of  the  City — The  Shops  and  their  Multiplicity  of 
Articles — Mexican  Horse  Furniture — Mexican  Houses — The  Plaza  del 
Toros. 

We  startecMo  see  the  magnificent  cathedral,  wearing  as  usual, 

our  gringos  bonnets  ;  Mr.  P told  us  we  should  haply  not  be 

admitted  in  that  head-dress ;  but  heing  already  accoutred,  and 
inclined  to  think  he  was  possibly  in  error,  we  continued  on  our 
way,  resolved  to  try  our  fate. 

When  we  came  into  the  Grand  Plaza,  a  little  doubt  and  hesi- 
tation came  over  us.  What  streams  of  rebosos  and  mantillaS  were 
going  in  and  out  of  the  building — not  one  bonneted  head  any 
where  !  Should  we  go  on  or  turn  back  ?  One  must  have  some- 
thing on  the  head — simply  unbonneting  would  not  do.  In  de- 
liberating mentally  on  the  difficulty,  and  giving  it  due  earnest 
consideration,  I  was  disposed  to  believe,  that  our  wearing  bonnets, 
or  no  bonnets,  then  and  there,  would  scarcely  be  regarded  in  the 
light  of  an  ecclesiastical  subject,  or  occasion  an  ecclesiastical  con- 
troversy ;  that  Protestants  like  us,  if  once  allowed  the  enjoyment 
and  free  use  of  our  abominable  heretical  heads,  might,  without 
doubt,  put  any  thing  upon  them  we  chose-;  and  that  if  an  Inqui- 
sition had  still  existed,  and  we  had  been  given  over  to  its  tender 
mercies,  the  bonnet  question  would  have  easily  been  put  to  an 
end,  by  the  heads  that  wore  them  being  "put  down"  at  once  by 
the  inflexible  Sir  Peter  Laurie  of  that  stern  tribunal.  So  the 
bonnets  were  retained,  and  we  leisurely  and  calmly  crossed  the 
stately  Grand  Plaza,  one  of  the  finest  I  ever  beheld  in  Europe, 
Asia,  Africa,  or  America. 

The  whole  of  its  vast  space  is  uninterruptedly  open,  save  by  the 
twofold  avenue  of  orange-trees  in  'front  of  the  cathedral.  The 
noble  equestrian  statue  of  Charles  IV.  at  one  time  stood  in  the 
centre,  but,  since  the  Independence  war,  it  has  been  taken  from 


THE  CATHEDRAL  OF  MEXICO.  191 

its  high  position,  and  placed  in  the  court-yard  of  the  Museum, 
•where,  in  these  revolutionary  days,  it  might  have  a  select  society 
of  statues  of  deposed  kings  to  accompany  it,  and  have  a  friendly 
ride  together.  The  splendid  national  palace  covers  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  eastern  side  of  the  Plaza  (it  has  a  princely  frontage 
of  five  hundred  feet) ;  while  the  vast  cathedral,  with  a  very  hand- 
K>me  church  contiguous  to  it,  which  has  a  beautifully  sculptured 
front,  occupies  the  northern  side  :  it  is  said  they  are  going  to  pull 
this  church  down.  Around  the  other  sides  a  Cortal  runs,  whose 
noble  arches  exhibit  an  immense  profusion  of  heterogeneous  articles 
for  sale. 

We  were  assailed  by  many  beggars  and  leperos  near  the  Cathe- 
dral. I  had  not  then  learnt  the  recognized  and  proper  method  of 
dismissing  them,  if  you  are  not  inclined  to  encourage  their  laziness, 
by  giving  them  any  reales  or  quartillos.  This  is  by  saying, 
"  Perdone  V.  por  Dios,"  or  "  Perdone  V.  Hermano ;"  but  I  im- 
provised a  very  efficient  substitute  in  my  own  sturdy  Anglo-Saxon, 
which,  after  a  few  repetitions,  I  can  recommend  as  answering  the 
purpose  thoroughly.  "  Pray  go  away,  I've  nothing  for  you," — a 
thousand  signs  and  gesticulations,  to  make  me  understand  he  wants 
money.  "  You  had  better  go  away," — he  mutters  something  : 
looks  perplexed  ; — "  Don't  stand  there  in  the  pathway ^ — he  can 
stand  the  strange  gibberish  no  longer,  and  moves  away  discomfited. 
The  effect  is  very  lasting,  too  !  I  don't  think  the  same  Upcro 
ever  attacked  me  again.  They  seemed  to  have  a  sort  of  fear  that 
the  heretic  might  have  been  pronouncing  some  dreadful  words  of 
sorcery  or  witchcraft,  and  in  short,  that  they  had  better  avoid  any 
further  communication. 

How  beautiful  the  Plaza  looked  that  morning  in  the  glorious 
sunshine,  with  its  picturesque  crowds  of  monks,  priests  (with  their 
enormous  shovel  hats,  over  the  spacious  brims  of  which  you  might 
almost  drive  a  carriage  and  four),  soldiers,  country  people,  vailed 
senoras,  Indians,  formats  in  chains,  horsemen,  laden  mules,  &c. ! 
It  was  impossible  not  to  be  struck  with  the  scenes  and  living 
actors  grouped  and  lounging  about  it. 

The  cathedral  is  built  upon  the  site  of  a  portion  of  the  ruins  of 
the  grand  Aztec  temple,  that  vast  pyramidal  edifice  which  was 
supposed  to  be  founded  by  Ahuitzotli.  This  was  the  enormous 
idol-temple,  which  so  astonished  the  Spanish  conquerors  by  its  size 
and  magnificence.  Its  various  piles  of  buildings,  and  courts,  and 
sanctuaries,  and  halls,  occupied,  according  to  their  statement*,  the 
whole  of  the  ground  on  which  the  cathedral  now  stands ;  and  in 


192  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

addition,  part  of  the  Plaza,  and  even  the  circumjacent  streets  ! 
The  old  writers  expatiated  on  the  wonderful  assemblage  of  five 
hundred  dwellings  within  its  inctosure — on  the  mighty  hall  con- 
structed of  stone  and  lime,  and  adorned  with  dreadful  serpent- 
forms,  writhing  and  hideous,  in  stone.  There  were  four  huge 
gates,  facing  the  four  cardinal  points  of  the  great  court,  paved 
with  stone  ;  there  were  grand  flights  of  stone  stairs,  and  splendid 
sanctuaries,  which  were  dedicated  to  the  dreadful  god  of  war. 
Then  there  was  a  vast  square  for  their  mystic  dances,  and  educa- 
tional establishments  for  the  priests,  and  "genteel  Ladies'  Semina- 
ries" for  the  priestesses. 

There  was  a  temple  of  mirrors  (which  for  the  sake  of  their 
studies  we  should,  perhaps,  hope  was  not  adjoining  the  latter 
structures),  and  another  of  fair  shells,  and  a  frightful  and  terrible 
one,  whose  door  was  a  giant  serpent's  great  gaping  mouth  (possibly 
to  frighten  the  priestesses  away  from  the  pavilion  of  looking-glasses 
next  door — quien  sale?)  Then  there  were  beauteous  fountains, 
where  consecrated  waters  glittered  in  the  sun,  making  sweet 
music ;  a'nd  richly-colored  bright  starry  birds,  such  as  abound  in 
radiant  Mexico,  kept  for  sacrifice :  and  there  was  the  house 
especially  designed  for  the  emperor's  devotions ;  and  the  lovely 
bowers  and  gardens  for  the  "  holy  flowers" — the  scarlet  manitas, 
I  suppose  (the  centre  of  which  is  formed  like  a  hand  with  the 
fingers  slightly  bending  inward),  and,  terrible  transition  from  the 
fairest  and  sweetest  things  in  nature  to  all  that  is  most  ghastly 
and  loathsome — there,  too,  stood  the  grinning  Towers  of  Skulls. 

Yes  !  there  rose  the  horrible  skull-towers,  actually  built  of  that 
portion  of  the  skeletons  of  the  victims  sacrificed  to  their  monster 
idols.  In  that  stupendous  temple,  they  tell  us,  chanted  night  and 
day,  at  least  five  thousand  priests  in  the  service  of  their  barbarous 
false  divinities,  who  were  anointed  three  times  a  day  with  per- 
fumes of  the  most  precious  and  costly  description.  They  tell  us, 
too,  that  the  most  devout  of  these  priests  were  dressed  in  garments 
of  sable  hue,  their  flowing  locks  stained  deeply,  with  some  sort  of 
ink,  and  their  persons  carefully  bedaubed  with  a  rather  curious 
kind  of  cosmetic,  made  of  the  ashes  of  burnt  scorpions  and  spiders. 
Whether  this  was  done  to  improve  or  disfigure,  I  know  not :  if  it 
had  been  in  Tierra  Caliente,  I  should  have  thought  it  was,  per- 
haps, a  cunning  "  dodge"  to  keep  musquitoes  away. 

Imagine  their  horrible  god  of  war,  Megitli,  being  born  with  a 
shield  in  one  hand,  an  arrow  in  the  other,  a  great  plume  of  pea- 
green  feathers  on  his  villainous  pale,  his  visage  dyed  a  sort  of  true 


MEXICAN  FUNERAL.  193 

or  garter  blue,  and  his  left  leg  adorned  with — not  the  insignia  of 
the  Order  of  the  same  Garter — but  with  a  luxuriant  crop  of 
feathers  :  the  monster's  colossal  statue  thus  represents  him.  It  is 
supposed  that  somewhere  about  fifty  thousand  human  victims 
were  sacrificed  every  year  in  Mexico  alone  to  their  different  idol 
demons  !  The  knowledge  of  this  takes  away  very  much  from 
one's  interest  in  the  Aztecs,  and  even  (less  justly)  one's  compassion 
for  poor  ill-used  Montezuma.  Surely  they  must  have  been  a 
cruel  people  originally  to  have  had  so  cruel  a  religion,  but,  of 
course,  individually,  may  be  entirely  exonerated  from  such  a 
charge. 

The  cathedral  covers  an  immense  space  of  ground,  has  two 
lofty  white  ornamented  towers,  and  its  interior  is  inconceivably 
rich  and  splendid.  There  is  a  very  costly  balustrade,  that  occu- 
pies the  centre  of  the  church,  which  is  composed  of  a  metal 
brought  from  China,  through  the  Philippine  Islands.  It  is  called 
from  this  circumstance,  "  Metal  de  China  :"  it  is  supposed  to  be  a 
composition  of  brass  and  silver,  and  is  very  massive.  It  is  said  to 
have  cost  an  immense  sum,  as  it  was  actually  paid  for  by  the 
weight  in  hard  dollars,  and  some  say  it  contains  so  much  gold, 
that  a  rich  silversmith  in  Mexico  offered  the  bishop  a  new  silver 
rail  of  exactly  equal  weight,  in  exchange  lor  the  old  metal ! 

On  the  hallowed  pavement  of  the  cathedral  stood  or  knelt  a 
large  number  of  persons,  and  we  discovered  that  a  funeral  service 
was  going  on  there.  Beside  the  coffin  on  the  bier,  which  was 
placed  rather  near  the  entrance,  were  priests  chanting  dismally 
and  very  nasally.  A  number  of  lighted  candles  were  disposed 
round  the  coffin — holy  water  was  thrown  on  it,  and  soon  after 
the  corpse  was  carried  out.  It  appeared  to  be  the  funeral  of  a 
poor  person,  as  the  mourners  were  miserably  attired.  Subsequent- 
ly, and  with  only  a  brief  interval,  another  coffin  was  brought  in, 
and  the  same  ceremony  repeated.  The  nave,  with  its  arch  rest- 
ing on  pillars  of  a  partly  Gothic  character,  and  the  high  altar  at 
the  extremity,  with  its  magnificent  pile,  resplendent  with  burnish- 
ed gold  and  solid  silver,  and  costly  marbles,  formed  a  very  impos- 
ing spectacle.  The  many  shrines  along  the  side  aisles  were  adorn- 
ed with  difierent  pictures,  and  on  all  sides  were  beheld  the  glitter 
of  gold  and  the  pomp  of  almost  inexhaustible  treasure.  Some  of 
the  railings  and  the  lamps  are  said  to  be  of  solid  silver.  There 
was  a  long  row  of  female  penitents  kneeling  at  the  altar,  with  irn- 
ineiise  lighted  candles  in  their  hands  ;  they  turned  round  and 
stared  our  bonnets  entirely  out  of  countenance,  smiling  as  they  did 

I 


194  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

so,  and  I  am  afraid  nudging  one  another ;  we  relieved  our  poor 
shamefaced  bonnets  from  their  embarrassment,  by  removing  them 
quickly  from  their  gaze. 

After  quitting  the  interior  of  the  cathedral  we  threaded  our 
way  among  the  Senoras  and  Senoritas,  leperos,  rancheros,  Indians 
and  begging  children  (who  are  terrible  little  torments  in  Mexico, 
and  pursue  you  sometimes  mounted  upon  each  other's  shoulders, 
like  the  posturing  Arabs),  and  went  to  see  on  the  outer  wall  of  the 
building  the  famous  calendar  stone  of  the  Aztecs.  It  is  fastened  on 
the  wall,  and  is  a  very  large  circular  stone  of  basaltic  porphyry, 
covered  with  curious  hieroglyphical  figures,  by  which  the  Aztecs 
used  to  designate  the  different  months  of  the  year,  and  which  it  is 
thought  ibrmed  a  perpetual  calendar.  This  immense  sculptured' 
stone,  with  its  astronomical  signs,  gives  one  a  more  favorable  idea 
of  the  people  than  the  horrible  idolatries  I  have  spoken  of  before. 

We  have  lately  been  to  see  the  National  Museum,  > which  is 

extremely  interesting.     Mr.  D was  good  enough  to  be  our 

cicerone. 

Let  me  give  the  reader  a  slight  idea  of  the  dreadful  Stone  of 
Sacrifices,  which,  however,  at  once  puts  to  flight  all  the  better 
opinions  that  the  great  calendar  might  have  induced  one  to  form 
of  the  ancient  lords  of  the  land.  It  was  upon  this  that  their  hid- 
eout human  sacrifices  were  performed,  those  with  which  the  great 
Temple  of  ancient  Tenochtitlan  was  so  fearfully  disgraced  and  de- 
filed. This  stone  is  in  excellent  preservation,  and  bears  its  silent 
but  eloquent  and  terrible  testimony  to  the  horrors  and  barbarities 
of  their  so  called  religious  rites  and  ceremonies.  It  has  a  hollow 
in  the  centre,  into  which  was  inserted  a  piece  of  jasper,  and  upon 
this  were  stretched  the  miserable  victims,  while  their  hearts  were 
deliberately  cut  out  by  the  pitiless  priests.  There  are  little  canals 
or  grooves,  which  slant  toward  the  edge,  for  carrying  off  the  blood 
of  the  unhappy  sufferer.  Hard  by  is  the  hideous  idol's  shrine,  in 
whose  honor  these  detestable  sacrifices  were  performed.  The  ex- 
tracted palpitating  heart  was  laid  at  the  grotesque  monster's  feet, 
after  being  inspected  by  the  high  priest,  and  subsequently  intro- 
duced into  his  open  mouth.  The  tongue  projected ;  and  in  the 
hollow  thus  made,  the  revolting  offering  was  thrust,  being  pushed 
in  with  a  spoon  of  gold  by  the  chief  priest. 

We  are  told  that  the  unfortunate  wretches  were  held  down  by 

six  priests,  while  the  appalling  operation  was  performed.     The 

••collars  have  been  preserved  (and  were  shown  to  us)  which  they 

put  on  the  necks  of  the  helpless  victims  to  keep  them  quiet,  while 


.    THE  IDOL  WORSHIPED.  195 

the  abominable  murderers  "  stole  their  hearts  away,"  in  this  most 
atrocious  fashion.  Alas  !  to  think  there  was  no  ether  and  no 
chloroform  in  those  days — not  that  those  merciless  demons  would 
have  used  it,  though. 

During  the  ghastly  tragedies  above  mentioned,  those  half  dozen 
assistant  executioners,  it  appears,  were  wont  to  be  clad  in  red  gar- 
ments, with  waving  crests  of  green  feathers  on  their  heads ;  in 
their  ears  were  hung  rings  of  green  and  gold,  and  blue  stones 
were  cunningly  fastened  in  the  upper  lips.  What  beauties  must 
they  have  looked !  They  had  actually  devised  a  costume  more 
outrageously  ugly  than  that  of  our  parish  beadles,  or  even  than 
the  old  Windsor  uniform. 

After  the  devoted  hearts  had  been  extracted  (the  poor  victims 
would  have  found  it  very  difficult  to  retaliate  on  their  tormentors 
— the  heartless  barbarians  !)  they  cut  oft' the  heads  of  the  unfortu- 
nates, and  used  them  in  adding  to  the  Tower  of  Skulls ;  then  they 
devoured  some  portions  of  the  bodies,  and  consumed  the  remainder, 
or  flung  it  to  some  of  the  wild  animals  that  were  confined  and 
kept  in  the  palace  precincts.  Some  speak  of  that  foul  idol  as  a 
goddess  ; — what  a  vile  representative  of  a  Queen  of  Hearts  ! 

After  that  sight  I  shall  not  scowl  again  at  a  New  York  omni- 
bus, or  any  other  evidence  of  human  progress  and  civilization.  I 
should  not  feel  shocked — not  much — if  I  saw  that  horrible  old 
gaping  idol  thrust  into  a  modern  deal  packing-case  (supposing  it 
were  less  huge),  and  addressed, 

"  To  MoNTEZTJMA  AND  Gt'ATAMOZIN,  EsQS., 

In  the  SHADES  (of  the  Cypresses), 

Chapultepec  Gardens. 
Per  omnibus, 
To  be  left  till  called  for. 

If  the  case  were  directed  to  those  sanguinary  priests,  it  would 
be  asking  the  omnibus  to  go  a  little  too  much  out  of  its  way  to 
leave  it  for  them. 

The  idol  in  question  is  the  hugset  and  most  hideous  of  all  the 
abominable  objects  scattered  round  the  great  sacrificial  stone,  he- 
terogeneous combinations  of  human  figures,  with  those  of  animals 
and  reptiles.  The  presiding  genius  of  the  place — this  horror  of 
horrors — the  Aztec  god  of  war — rejoices  in  the  euphonious  name 
of  Queatzalcoatl  (which  sounds  somewhat  like  the  quacking  of  a 
duck,  and  sometimes  like  quizzical),  is  about  fourteen  feet  high, 
with  four  faces,  and  pairs  of  arms  and  legs  in  proportion.  (I  hope 
I  have  not  confounded  this  with  the  other  respected  gentleman, 


196  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA.   . 

Megitli,  and  that  in  reality  this  old  "  quizzical"  is  the  god  of  the 
air).  His  chasmy  mouth  seems  angrily  yawning  for  its  awful  ac- 
customed banquet.  One  almost  felt  inclined  to  pin  a  paper,  in 
mockery  and  revenge,  deaf-and-dumb  beggar  fashion,  to  its  breast, 
with  "  starving"  written  thereon. 

The  remainder  of  the  abominations  scattered  on  the  pavement 
around,  were,  some  of  them  like  Chinese  inventions  of  deformity, 
and  others  peculiar,  I  think,  to  Aztec  conceptions ;  such  as  ser- 
pents in  a  full  dress  of  feathers,  and  other  incongruities.  Queat- 
zalcoatl  might  be  presented  to  the  Peace  Congress,  methinks,  as  a 
very  fair  representation  and  embodiment  of  the  terrible  genius  of 
war. 

These  hateful  and  yet  painfully  interesting  relics  of  antiquity, 
are  collected  in  the  court-yard  of  the  Museum,  and  railed  round. 
We  were  admitted,  however,  inside  the  fence,  and  so  had  an  ex- 
cellent view  of  them.  In  the  centre  of  this  court-yard  stands  the 
famous  colossal  equestrian  statue  of  Charles  IV.,  executed  by  the 
Mexican  sculptor,  Tolsa.  It  is  very  highly  praised  by  Humboldt, 
and  in  general  is  said  to  be  the  finest  work  of  the  kind  in  the  New 
World.  It  is  of  bronze.  The  horse  (modeled  from  an  Aridalusian 
charger,  I  believe)  I  could  not  admire  :  it  looked  clumsy,  I  thought, 
and  without  any  symmetry.  It  has  spirit,  however,  and  its  royal 
rider  looks  animated  and  life-like.  The  attitude  is  fine  and  strik- 
ing, and  altogether  it  is  a  very  noble  work.  Lord  M.  Kerr  took 
a  capital  sketch  of  it. 

In  the  interior  of  the  Museum  we  saw  many  interesting  remains 
of  the  ancient  Indian  possessors  of  the  country,  and  also  mementos 
of  the  earlier  Spanish  race.  Here  are  preserved  the  coats  of  mail 
of  the  great  Cortez  and  of  Alvarado.  Cortez,  judging  from  his 
armor — helmet,  cuishes,  and  breastplate — must  have  been  a  man 
of  about  the  height  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington  (a  height  much  in 
fashion  for  heroes  in  all  ages),  and  of  a  powerful  frame.  Pedro  de 
Alvarado,  who  performed  the  celebrated  leap,  on  the  far-famed 
night  which  obtained  the  melancholy  name  of  the  Noche  Triste, 
apparently  was  slighter  and  rather  taller  than  his  great  chief. 
The  measure  of  this  wonderful  leap  is  still  shown  on  a  walk  near 
the  spot,  while  the  fosse,  crossed  by  a  little  bridge  (it  is,  however, 
I  believe,  filled  up  now),  retains  the  denomination  of  "  El  Salto  de 
Alvarado." 

This  Salto  took  place  on  the  1st  of  July,  1520,  when  the  Span- 
ish invaders  were  compelled  to  retreat  from  Mexico  to  the  heights 
of  Tepeyayac.  On  this  mournful  and  memorable  occasion  Cortez 


"EL  SALTO  DE  ALVARADO."  197 

commanded  the  troops  to  march  in  silence.  The  vanguard  was 
led  by  the  intrepid  and  invincible  Sandoval :  the  valiant  Pedro  de 
Alvarado  brought  up  the  rear.  It  was  indeed  a  melancholy  night 
— a  nochc  triste  in  every  sense.  The  rain  poured  down  in  almost 
sheets  of  water  ;  the  heavens  were  obscured  by  black  clouds ;  the 
splendid  rnoon  and  stars  of  Mexico  were  invisible — all  was  quiet — 
the  dreary  echoes  of  the  splashing  rain  alone  drowned  the  measured 
steps  of  the  retreating  Spaniards.  A  wooden  bridge,  to  enable 
them  to  traverse  the  moats  or  canals,  was  borne  along  by  a  num- 
ber of  the  soldiers,  and  on  they  went,  full  of  determination  and 
energy,  under  their  renowned  leaders.  The  first  canal  was  passed 
in  safety — the  hostile  sentinels,  who  guarded  it,  were  overpowered ; 
but  the  sound  of  the  almost  momentary  struggle  had  aroused  one 
or  more  of  the  watchful  priests.  The  consecrated  trumpets  were 
loudly  blown — "  To  arms  !"  was  the  cry  ;  and  the  suddenly  awak- 
ened city  sprang  from  its  peaceful  slumber.  The  retreating  forces 
of  Cortez  were  rapidly  hemmed  in,  and  surrounded  by  water  and 
land.  They  had  just  reached  the  second  canal,  and  there  the 
hideous  conflict  raged  fearfully  :  the  canal  was  literally  bridged 
over  with  dead  bodies,  and  along  them  the  rear  guard  passed. 
Cortez  performed  prodigies  of  valor,  and  poor  Alvarado  of  jump- 
ing ;  yet  not  against  him  be  this  recorded.  Alone  by  chance  on 
the  border  of  the  third  canal  to  which  he  had  fought  his  way, 
with  intrepid  courage,  his  horse  being  killed,  and  himself  encircled 
by  merciless  enemies  (perhaps  with  the  pleasing  idea  of  Queatzal- 
coatl  before  him)  against  whom  it  was  hopeless  for  him  to  contend 
single-handed,  he,  with  prompt  decision,  planted  his  lance  firmly 
in  the  bottom  of  the  canal,  and  lightly  leaning  his  weight  against 
it,  sprang  into  the  air,  and  vaulted  over  with  an  agile  bound  safely 
to  the  opposite  shore,  leaving  the  Indians  gaping  and  gazing  with 
uncontrollable  admiration  and  wonder  at  the  tremendous  feat.  A 
contemporary  author  says,  when  they  beheld  this  surprising  leap 
they  ate  earth  by  handfuls.  To  bite  the  dust,  it  appears,  was  to 
express  approbation  in  those  days — a  disagreeable  mode,  we  should 
think,  of  elaborating  a  bravo.  How  expensive  a  way  it  would  be 
in  California  !  (Had  they  had  Jenny  Lind  in  those  days,  small 
landed  proprietors  would  have  eaten  their  whole  estates  bodily.) 
But  the  reader  will  be  tired  of  "Alvarado  of  the  Leap,"  whose 
leap  I  have  certainly  not  skipped  over. 

Mr.  D pointed  out  to  us,  among  other  things,  the  fine  map 

of  Ancient  Mexico,  which  was  actually  given  by  Montezmna  to 
Cortez.     There  was  a  vast  assemblage  of  antiques  on  every  side — 


TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 


Indian  idols,  amulets,  and  ornaments  (mostly  cut  in  obsidian,  I 
believe).  Many  of  the  idols  and  figures  bear  a  striking  resemblance 
to  Egyptian  images. 

Among  ancient  curiosities  were  some  modern  ones — eastern 
mirrors  and  Chinese  nondescripts,  and  some  marvelously  well-ex- 
ecuted figures,  made  of  rags  by  the  modern  Mexicans.  An  old 
woman,  who  is  dying  they  say,  is  the  only  person  (except  a  daugh- 
ter of  hers,  whom  she  has  taught)  who  knows  how  to  make  them 
now.  There  are  wax  ones  that  are  also  clever,  but  they  are  very 
common,  and  not  to  be  compared  to  those  of  this  "Ragged  School" 
of  Art. 

*At  one  end  of  the  room  there  was  a  little  plant  of  the  manita 
flower ;  there  are  but  three  trees  of  the  Arbol  de  las  Manitos 
(Cheirostemon  platanifoliuni),  I  am  informed,  in  Mexico  :  it 
grows  to  a  considerable  size.  Two  are  to  be  found  in  the  Botan- 
ical Gardens,  and  one  is  in  the  Toluca  Mountains. 

I  was  introduced  in  the  Museum  to  an  English  gentleman,  who 
has  lately  arrived  here  from  a  sojourn  of  two  years  in  Siberia — a 
voluntary  exile.  He  then  left  Kamtschatka  in  a  Russian  merchant 
vessel,  visited  Polynesia,  and  subsequently  the  interior  of  South 
America.  He  had  just  come  from  the  western  coast  of  Mexico, 
and  intends  going  from  Vera  Cruz  by  the  next  packet,  on  his  way 
home.  What  an  extensive  and  interesting  tour  ! 

After  the  stillness  and  seclusion  of  the  Museum,  and  the  grim 
company  of  so  many  grinning  idols  and  dusty  relics  of  the  past,  the 
gay  streets,  overflowing  as  usual  with  pedestrians,  horsemen,  and 
carriages,  seemed  doubly  exhilarating  and  amusing  ;  not  that  I  did 
not  appreciate  those  memorials  of  the  olden  time,  and  wish  there 
were  many  more  of  them,  unspoiled  and  unshattered  :  for  well 
says  the  old  Mexican,  Ant.  de  Gama,  "  Quantos  preciosos  monu- 
mentos  de  la  antiquedad  por  falta  de  intelligenza,  habran  perecido 
en  esta  manera." 

I  wish  I  could  give  any  adequate  idea  of  the  beauty  of  Mexico, 
it  is  so  unlike  any  other  place  in  the  world.  Humboldt  says,  set- 
ting aside  its  very  peculiar  situation,  that  it  is  one  of  the  very  finest 
cities  ever  built  by  Europeans  in  either  hemisphere,  being  only  in- 
ferior to  St.  Petersburgh,  London,  Berlin,  or  Philadelphia,  as  re- 
spects the  regularity  and  length  of  its  streets,  as  well  as  the  extent 
of  its  public  places.  But  then  to  make  these  compare  with  charm- 
ing Mexico,  you  must  widen  and  adorn  those  streets  with  those 
gay  covered  colonades,  the  portalcs  (the  despicable  and  discarded 
Regent-street  covered  way  gave  not  the  slightest  idea  of  them), 


MEXICAN  SHOPS.  199 


pour  into  them  the  picturesque  and  streaming  population  of  a 
Neapolitan  holiday,  give  them  a  sky  overhead  yet  clearer  and 
more  exquisitely  beautiful  than  that  of  fair  Parthenope  herself, 
enthrone  everlasting  spring  upon  their  terraces  and  gardens,  and 
then  place  the  whole  in  such  a  paradisiacal  valley  as  this,  with  its 
giant  wall  around  it,  of  the  snow-crowned  Cordillera. 

Fancy  coming  at  the  end  of  Bond-street  or  Park-lane,  to  a  view 
of  sublimer  Alps,  and  more  colossal  Pyrenees.  On  looking  down 
any  of  the  principal  thoroughfares  and  streets  of  this  capital,  you 
behold  these  grand  mountain  forms  towering  into  the  sky,  clearly 
defined  against  the  lucid  lustrous  cerulean  of  the  heavenly  arch, 
and  sometimes  almost  as  if  they  were  within  a  stone's  throw,  so 
marvelously  pure  is  this  atmosphere. 

I  wonder  if  the  shops  and  stalls  are  always  so  abundantly  pro- 
vided as  they  seem  to  be  now  :  perhaps  they  are  particularly  lull, 
as  it  is  so  near  the  Carnival.  In  many  of  the  shops  are  the  most 
beautiful  materials  for  ladies'  dresses,  shawls  of  all  the  colors  of 
the  prism,  scarfs  of  all  the  shapes  and  patterns  which  Proteus,  or 
Mrs.  and  the  Misses  Proteus  could  have  by  possibility  desired. 
You  might  ransack  your  imagination  in  vain  for  a  quarter  of  the 
multiplicity  of  articles  which  greet  the  eyes  at  every  turn. 

What  is  there  not  to  be  found  here  ?  Look  round  ;  here  are 
sombreros,  mantillas,  rebosos,  satins,  silks,  silver,  gold,  china,  pic- 
tures, mats,  and  twenty  thousand  things  besides,  all  close  at  hand  ; 
and  just  look  at  those  splendidly  embroidered  cloth-mangos  for 
gentlemen,  with  a  circular  piece  of  colored  velvet  in  the  middle  to 
act  as  a  sort  of  masculine  necklace.  Here  are  wax  figures,  most 
elaborately  and  exquisitely  finished,  faithful  representations  of 
every  class  in  Mexico,  a  perfect  population  in  themselves,  and,  it 
is  asserted,  not  given  to  the  melting  mood,  which  you  would  have 
suspected.  Here  are  spurs,  like  merely  moderately-sized  windmills ! 
that  weigh,  some  of  them,  a  pound  and  a  half,  and  the  rowels  of 
which  clatter  along  the  pavements  when  the  wearer  happens  to 
walk,  like  a  traveling  tinker's  store  on  an  uproarious  and  kicking 
donkey.  And  here  are  gold  and  silver  ornaments  in  lace,  and 
aerial  flounces  and  furbelows,  and  artificial  flowers,  which  it  is  said 
— but  I  can  not  corroborate  the  assertion  by  having  witnessed  any 
thing  of  the  sort — are  made  by  men ;  and  that  you  may  there  see 
a  whole  regiment  of  stout,  active  Mexicans,  who  ought  to  be 
quarrying  stone,  or  working  in  the  mines,  or  mending  their  abom- 
inable roads  (Avhich  must  destroy  a  large  proportion  of  ill-starred 
•travelers  annually,  we  should  think),  witli  enormous  mustaches, 


200  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

and  desperate  looking  cuchillos  at  hand,  actually  employed  in 
mincingly  manipulating  delicate  decorations  for  ladies'  dresses, 
trimming  fairy  caps,  and  artistically  twisting  and  pinning  bows  of 
ribbon. 

Would  the  reader  like  to  give  two  hundred  dollars  for  a  cheap 
pair  of  Guadalaxara  stamped  leathern  boots,  wrought  all  over  with 
silver  ?  arid  a  saddle  for  about  double  that  trifling  sum  ?  Would 
he  admire  more  those  lassos  or  sarapes,  or  beautiful  Mexican  hats 
with  their  tassels  and  broad  rolls  of  shining  silver,  fastened  with 
little  lions,  serpents,  and  other  devices  ?  Or  has  he  any  fancy  to 
pay  away  a  small  fortune  ibr  a  complete  set  of  horse  furniture,  and 
a  full  riding  dress  of  the  country  to  match  1  It  is  a  most  beautiful 
costume  altogether ;  and  one  can  not  help  hoping  the  Mexican 
caballeros  will  not  give  up  their  magnificent  and  appropriate  cos- 
tume and  splendid  horse  equipments,  to  adopt  the  ugly  fashions  of 
Europe. 

I  heard  English  saddles  were  becoming  very  common  here,  but 
I  am  unpatriotically  happy  to  say  I  have  seen  but  few  of  them. 
But  let  us  go  back  to  the  shops.  There  are  the  costly  anqueras, 
stamped  and  gilt,  or  otherwise  curiously  and  ingeniously  wrought, 
and  terminating  in  a  fringe  of  multitudinous  little  bells  or  tags,  of 
silver  generally,  but  sometimes  of  brass  or  iron,  which  jingle  merrily 
as  the  sledge  bells  of  Russia  or  Canada.  These  anqueras  are 
sometimes  of  fur,  embroidered  richly  with  gold  and  silver  in  large 
stripes.  And,  close  by,  are  the  gold-embossed  jackets  ;  then  there 
are  piles  of  large  silver  buttons,  which  are  necessary  ibr  the  adorn- 
ment of  different  portions  of  the  dress  ;  there  are  trinkets,  slippers, 
wares  of  all  sorts,  little  images,  all  kinds  of  cotton  and  woolen 
cloth  ;  in  fact,  every  thing,  and  all  things,  and  a  great  deal  besides  ! 

All  the  houses  here  are  of  stone.  In  the  most  distinguished 
portions  of  the  city,  I  believe  two  sorts  of  hewn  stone  are  used, 
porous  amygdaloid  and  porphyry.  The  gates  and  balustrades  are 
generally  of  iron  and  bronze.  The  houses  have  flat  terraced  roofs 
and  large  court-yards  (patios)  with  colonnades  running  round 
them,  and  are  often  profusely  adorned  with  plants.  We  are  told 
the  interior  is  often  decorated  with  beautiful  mosaic  and  arabesque. 
Few  windows,  in  general,  look  out  upon  the  streets. 

Some  of  the  fronts  are  enriched  with  glazed  porcelain  or  beau- 
tifully carved  and  ornamented,  and  there  is  usually  an  imposing- 
looking  arched  gateway,  in  the  centre,  leading  to  the  colonnaded 
patio;  and  through  them  you  may  occasionally  catch  delightful 
Arabian-night-like  views  of  the  splendid  interiors.  They  often  re- 


PLAZA  DEL  TOROS.  201 


minded  me  of  the  princely  palaces  of  Genoa  the  Superb,  of  whose 
enchanted  courts  you  may  frequently  catch  similar  peeps  in  driving 
along  the  streets,  and  which,  seen  in  this  rapid  and  partial  manner, 
seemed  like  the  aerial  visions  of  a  gorgeous  dream. 

Through  the  Mexican  gateways  you  see  sometimes  a  beautiful 
fountain,  sparkling  against  the  sun,  beds  of  flowers,  or  bowers  -of 
orange-trees,  and  the  corridor's  light  and  sculptured  arches.  Some 
of  the  buildings  are  tinted  with  rich  and  delicate  rosy  hues,  like 
the  soft  reflection  of  the  rising  or  setting  sun,  and  some  have  the 
faintest  soupfon  of  a  tinge  imaginable,  like  a  fairy's  blush  (if  Queen 
Titania  and  her  handmaidens  ever  do  blush),  and  some  are  com- 
pletely covered  with  frescoed  arabesque  designs. 

Mr.  D has  taken  us  to  see  the  Plaza  del  Toros,  the  amphi- 
theatre for  bull-fights.  It  is  an  enormous  circular  inclosure,  in  a 
very  dilapidated  condition,  in  consequence  of  which  such  exhibitions 
are  at  a  stand-still  here,  ibr  it  is  supposed  not  to  be  safe — so  the 
poor  bulls  are.  There  is  an  immensely  great  national  manufactory 
of  tobacco  in  the  southwest  part  of  the  city,  which  is  said  to  sup- 
ply the  entire  legitimate  demands  for  cigarros  in  the  Confederation. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

Mexico— The  Viga — The  Chinampas — Floating  Gardens,  Fields  and  Or- 
chards of  the  .Aztecs — Abundance  of  Flowers  in  Mexico ;  and  of  Fruits — 
The  Fruit-stalls — The  Meat  and  Poultry — Tortoises,  Salamanders  and 
Frogs — The  Population  of  the  City  of  Mexico — Its  numberless  Vehicles 
Its  Environs  on  Fete-days — Defective  Police  Arrangements — Frequent 
Robberies  in  Consequence — Mexican  Chocolate — Victoriaca,  the  Waiting- 
maid. 

WE  are  more  and  more  enthusiastically  charmed  with  this  peer- 
less Mexico.  What  a  climate — what  scenery !  What  a  brilliant 
and  busy  city — what  beauties  and  wonders  on  all  sides! 

The  Viga  I  am  quite  delighted  with.  It  is  an  enchanting 
promenade,  with  a  canal  running  on  the  side  of  it,  half-overshadow- 
ed by  lovely  trees.  The  Arbol  de  Peru  (Peruvian  pepper-tree)  was 
conspicuously  graceful  and  striking  among  them.  There  were 
crowds  of  Indians  in  their  flat  canoes,  almost  lost  among  heaps  of 
flowers,  and  fruits,  and  vegetables. 

We  visited  the  celebrated  Chinampas,  formerly  the  floating 
garden  of  the  Aztecs,  now  stationary.  They  have  taken  up  their 

i* 


202  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

permanent  abode  at  a  little  distance  from  the  canal  of  Chalco. 
The  metropolis  is  principally  supplied  with  vegetables  from  them 
still.  There  are  flowers  sprinkled  here  and  there.  The  old 
chroniclers  tell  us  that  in  1 245,  after  many  persecutions,  the  Aztecs, 
wandering  from  place  to  place,  left  Chapultepec  to  establish  them- 
selves in  an  island  group  to  the  south  of  Tezcuco  Lake.  Oppressed 
by  Tezcucan  chieftains,  they  sought  refuge  in  Tezapan,  where, 
having  assisted  the  princes  of  that  land  in  some  insignificant  wars, 
they  were  allowed  to  establish  themselves,  in  freedom,  in  a  city, 
which  they  named  Mexicalsingo.  But  they  were  commanded  by 
some  oracle  to  transport  themselves  and  their  families  from  thence, 
to  some  islands  to  the  eastward  of  Chapultepec,  and  to  the  western 
side  of  the  Tezcuco  Lake. 

Long  before  this,  an  old  tradition  was  popular  among  them, 
to  the  effect — that  in  whatever  place  they  should  see  an  eagle 
seated  on  a  nopal,  with  its  roots  fixed  in  a  rock,  on  that  spot,  they 
should  hasten  to  found  a  city.  They  first  hailed  this  sign  in  1325, 
and  there  (in  one  of  the  islands  in  the  lake)  they  founded  the  first 
house  of  their  gods — the  great  Mexican  temple,  called,  in  their 
tongue,  Teocalli.  This  history  seems  to  me  to  bear  a  faint  and 
perhaps  merely  fanciful  resemblance  tp  that  of  the  modern  Mor- 
mons, now  settled  in  their  flourishing  city  of  the  great  Salt  Lake. 

Through  all  of  their  Arab-like  wanderings,  wherever  they  stop- 
ped, those  Aztecs  were  wont  to  cultivate  the  earth,  and  where 
they  were  then  settled,  frequently  encircled  by  barbarous  enemies, 
as  they  were,  in  the  midst  of  a  great  lake,  where  fish  were  re- 
markably scarce,  they  devised  the  ingenious  expedient  of  forming 
floating  gardens,  and  fields,  and  orchards,  on  the  surface  of  the 
tranquil  waters.  These  they  framed  skillfully  of  the  woven-to- 
gether  roots  of  aquatic  plants,  wreathed  and  intermingled  with 
various  boughs  and  branches,  and  twigs,  till  they  had  secured  a 
foundation  strong  enough  to  uphold  a  soil,  formed  of  earth  drawn 
from  the  bottom  of  the  lake.  Their  corn  and  chili,  and  different 
plants  required  for  their  sustenance,  were  sown  on  this. 

It  appears  that  these  gliding  gardens,  were  ordinarily  elevated 
about  a  foot  above  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  were  of  an  ob- 
long shape.  Soon  afterward,  these  insulated  and  raft-like  fields 
were  adorned  with  lovely  beds  of  countless  flowers,  which  were 
not  alone  cherished  by  the  people  (who  were  great  lovers  of  these 
luxuries  of  nature),  but  were  employed  in  the  worship  of  their 
idols,  and  were  a  favorite  ornament  of  the  palace  of  their  new  em- 
perors. These  famed  Chinampas,  along  the  Viga  canal,  are  now 


ABUNDANCE  OF  FLOWERS  AND  FRUITS.  203 

attached  to  the  mainlands,  on  the  grounds  that  lie  between  the 
two  great  lakes  of  Chalco  and  Tezcuco.  Little  trenches,  filled 
with  water,  appear  to  divide  the  gardens.  There  are  small 
bridges,  thrown  across  the  water,  to  keep  up  the  communication 
with  the  mainland.  The  Indian  proprietor  has  generally  his 
humble  hut  in  the  garden,  but  no  longer  can  he  (if  desirous  of 
removing  for  a  space,  his  "location"),  seated  in  his  canoe,  tow 
along  his  fairy  and  flowering  island  to  another  part  of  that  fresh, 
silvery,  glistening  sea. 

Whether  in  gardens  floating  or  fixed,  flowers  never  fail  them 
in  their  bewitching  climate.  Their  roses  are  all  roses  des  quatre 
saisons  (so  well  rendered  by  Lord  's  gardener  "  quarter  ses- 
sions roses")!  From  March  to  June  the  flowery  sea  almost  over- 
flows, and  its  many-colored  waves,  and  sunny  tides  bury  all  in 
their  beauty.  We  are  told  that,  on  the  dias  di  Jiesta,  even  the 
very  humblest  classes,  are  nearly  smothered  in  roses,  and  crowned 
with  variegated  garlands  of  carnations,  poppies,  sweet-peas,  jessa- 
mine, and  other  gifts  of  the  munificent  Flora  of  Mexico. 

If  the  inhabitants  of  this  favored  land  rejoice  in  myriads  of 
flowers,  they  have  an  equal  good-fortune  with  respect  to  fruit. 
All  climates  and  seasons  contend  in  Mexico  to  please  the  natural 
or  acquired  tastes  of  the  epicures  of  the  land.  The  name  of  their 
fruits  is  Legion.  Within  a  very  few  leagues  you  may  have  in 
Mexico  the  greatest  imaginable  variety  of  climates;  in  short,  from 
the  united  influence  of  its  peculiar  geological  structure,  and  the 
way  in  which  heat  is  qualified  by  the  diilerences  of  elevation  in, 
every  portion  of  its  extensive  territory,  t  combines  every  conceiv- 
able production,  and  is  unparalleled  in  these  particulars  on  the 
face  of  the  earth. 

The  fruit-stalls  are  veritable  natural  curiosity  shops  ;  the  treas- 
ures of  Pomona  seem  indeed  here  innumerable  ;  from  the  north, 
the  south,  the  east,  the  west,  they  appear  to  be  gathered  together 
in  inexhaustible  profusion  ;  chirimoyas,  bananas,  chicozapotes, 
pine-apples,  pears,  oranges,  apples,  grenaditas  de  China,  melons, 
cocoa-nuts,  black  and  white  zapotes,  capnlin  (the  Mexican  cherry), 
dates,  mameys,  mulberries,  plums,  shaddocks,  pomegranates,  man- 
goes, citrons,  walnuts,  strawberries,  and  thousands  of  others.  The 
consumption  of  these,  and  of  vegetables,  such  as  tomatoes,  pota- 
toes, plantains,  cauliflowers,  garbanzos  (a  small  bean,  much  in 
favor),  gourds,  cabbages,  <fcc.,  is  stated  to  be  quite  enormous  in  pro- 
portion to  the  population.  I  should  think  such  articles  of  food, 
were  much  wholesomer,  in  this  climate,  than  meat  ;  but  I  believe, 


204  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

the  city  markets  are  also  well  supplied  with  the  latter.  Turkeys, 
and  poultry  in  general,  and  a  very  great  variety  of  wild  water- 
fowl are  abundant,  and  at  very  reasonable  prices ;  and  also  rab- 
bits, hares,  pigeons,  &c.  They  have  besides,  a  choice  selection  of 
rather  singular  articles  of  diet,  which  the  lower  classes  are  said  to 
patronize  extensively :  tortoises,  creatures  they  call  salamanders, 
and  frogs.  I  have  sometimes  eaten  the  latter  at  Naples,  and 
found  them  excellent  when  fried  ;  very  like  a  delicate  little  spring 
chicken ;  but  here  I  have  never  seen  them  brought  to  table. 

There  is  also  a  plentiful  supply  of  good  mutton,  beef,  and  pork, 
hut  veal  is  said  to  be  prohibited.  The  necessaries  of  existence 
ought  to  be  cheap  enough  here,  one  should  think,  but  in  other 
things  Mexico  is  reckoned  a  very  expensive  place  to  live  in. 

The  population  here  in  general  is  of  a  mixed  character,  perhaps 
one  half  being  Creoles  (or  descendants  of  the  Spaniards),  one  fourth 
Mestizoes,  half  castes  between  Europeans  and  Indians,  and  nearly 
another  fourth  copper-colored  Indians  ;  with  some  Blacks  and  Mu- 
lattoes,  and  from  six  to  seven  thousand  Europeans. 

Many  of  the  grandees  and  magnates  here  (frequently  successful 
speculators)  are  possessed  of  enormous  wealth,  but  the  masses  are 
commonly  lazy  and  indigent.  Great  numbers  pass  their  time  in 
lounging  about  the  streets,  portales,  markets,  church  porches,  and 
various  public  buildings,  asking  charity  of  the  passers  by,  and  ap- 
pealing usually  to  what  they  imagine  to  be  the  most  lively  feelings 
of  the  persons  they  address.  "  Senor,  by  the  love  of  the  most 
blessed  Madonna !"  and,  "  Madrecita,  by  the  life  of  the  little 
one  !"  and  so  forth.  They  seem  a  happy  set  of  people,  enjoying 
their  far  niente.  My  chatelaine  always  drew  their  most  atten- 
tive regards,  and  I  was  almost  afraid  one  day  it  would  suddenly 
be  snatched  away  from  its  ordinary  sphere  of  being ;  but  they 
contented  themselves,  like  good  children,  with  looking  and  not 
touching. 

The  white  Creoles  are  said  to  be  distinguished  for  courtesy, 
gentleness  of  manners,  kindness,  and  hospitality ;  and,  from  the 
very  little  I  have  seen  of  them,  I  can  readily  believe  it. 
.  Carriages  seem  literally  to  swarm  in  Mexico ;  every  body  ap- 
pears to  possess  one  or  more.  I  believe  the  senoras  here  consider 
it  the  most  indispensable  of  all  necessaries.  There  are  carratelas, 
and  French  open  carriages,  and  English  closed  ones,  and  volantes, 
and  I  know  not  how  many  more  species ;  but  they  are  multiform 
and  multinominal,  and  multitudinous ;  and  in  the  evening  they 
appear  in  shoals,  filled  with  beautiful  senoras,  and  senoritas.  their 


ROBBERIES  FREQUENT  IN  MEXICO.  205 

large  black  eyes  flashing  out  like  lamps  designed  to  dispel  the 
gathering  dusk. 

The  environs  of  the  city,  too,  are  said  to  be  generally  gay  and 
crowded  in  the  evening,  especially  on  fete  days,  and  to  present  a 
joyous  scene  of  bustle  and  animation.  Hundreds  of  light  canoes, 
of  different  sizes,  mostly  with  awnings,  and  crowded  with  Mesti- 
zoes and  native  Indians,  are  to  be  seen  gliding  along  in  all  direc- 
tions on  the  shining  canals,  generally  with  an  indefatigable  guitar- 
player  among  the  company,  and  some  of  the  festive  party  singing 
or  perhaps  dancing. 

Mr.  D says,  however,  from  defective  police  arrangements, 

or  other  causes,  it  is  dangerous  to  go  out  of  the  city  after  dusk 
without  arms.  Some  persons  incautiously  doing  so,  have  been 
lassoed  and  plundered,  and  every  body  who  is  compelled  to  go 
should  go  well  armed — more  penalties  for  living  in  such  a  para- 
dise !  They  say  these  gentry  who  are  so  free  with  their  lassos  are 
mostly  of  the  mongrel  sort,  part  native  (Indian),  part  Spanish,  and 
part  Negro ;  and  that  the  gangs  of  guerillas  and  robbers,  which 
annoyed  the  American  armies  during  the  war,  were  chiefly  formed 
of  such  tricolor  individuals. 

Last  night  we  found  it  a  little  too  cool  in  our  skylighted  win- 
dowless  apartment,  and  I  asked  for  a  brasero,  or  braserico  (a  kind 
of  chafing-dish).  After  a  little  delay,  one  was  brought,  but  the 
warmth  it  afforded  was  barely  sufficient  to  warm  the  tips  of  our 
fingers — however,  fortunately,  but  little  more  is  needed.  I  find 
the  air  here  very  delightful,  and  none  of  us  have  experienced,  dur- 
ing our  very  short  sejour  here,  the  remotest  inconvenience  from 
the  rarification  of  the  atmosphere  in  this  elevated  region ;  but 
Lord  Mark  told  us,  the  other  day,  he  found  occasionally  an  unac- 
customed oppression  and  shortness  of  breathing  on  running  up 
stairs,  or  ascending  a  hill,  since  his  arrival  in  Mexico. 

I  wish  the  reader  could  have  a  glimpse  of  the  damsel  who  es- 
pecially waits  on  us.  She  is  named  Victoriana.  Her  long  jet- 
black  hair  flows  and  "  wanders  at  its  own  sweet  will,"  sometimes 
waving  overshadowingly  above  our  chocolate  cups  in  a  rather 
alarming  manner ;  but  she  usually  contrives  with  a  little  twist 
and  toss  of  her  head  to  prevent  its  sweeping  away  the  deep  foam 
from  that  richest  of  beverages. 

And  here  I  must  quit  Victoriana  for  a  while,  to  rave  a  little 
about  Mexican  chocolate.  It  is  nectar  and  ambrosia  at  once,  and 
I  think  would  spoil  us  for  every  thing  every  where  :  tea  in  China 
with  the  ethereal  flower  in  it,  which  will  not  bear  keeping  or  car- 


206  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

riage ;  coffee  at  Mocha  would  surely  seem  nothing,  or  positively 
nauseous,  in  comparison.  I  believe  the  plant  from  which  it  is 
made  is  the  natural  growth  of  Mexico — and  Olympus,  perhaps. 
When  the  jetty-locked  Victoriana  brings  it  in  the  morning  for 
desayuno,  with  a  most  excellent  sweet  roll  (an  improvement  on 
an  English  bun),  if  Messrs.  Mars,  Phoebus,  and  Mercury,  and 
Mesdames  Juno  and  Pallas  dropped  in  unexpectedly  through  the 
skylight,  we  should  be  able  to  provide  them  at  once  with  their 
usual  food,  the  "  best  entertainment"  for  gods  and  goddesses. 

Victoriana  has  one  of  the  merriest  of  countenances,  and  appears 
clad  at  all  times  in  the  simplest  of  dresses,  the  throat,  shoulders, 
and  arms  bare,  and  the  drapery  altogether  very  cool  and  airy,  the 
damsel's  own  abundant  hair  playing  a  large  part  in  it.  She  is  a 
great  chatterbox,  and  talks  rare  gibberish  and  patois.  She  has 
found  out  that  we  are  exceedingly  fond  of  milk,  and  good-naturedly 
exerts  herself  to  bring  us  a  large  supply  of  it — sometimes,  I  think, 
leaving  the  good  people  at  the  table  dhote  with  a  considerably  di- 
minished quantity.  This  milk  is  delicious  ;  it  is  brought  in  a  kind 
of  huge  caldron,  holding  about  a  couple  of  pails,  or  thereabouts. 

In  my  own  mind  I  am  perfectly  convinced  that  Victoriana  is 
Indian — (she  is  of  a  tolerably  near  approach  to  black  :  it  may  be 
an  invisible  green,  which  sombre  coloring  is  lit  up  by  blazing 
bright  dark  eyes  and  white  teeth) — but  she  will  not  hear  of  such 
a  thing  for  a  momnet.  No ;  oh  no  !  "  Soy  Mexicana  !"  Yes, 
that  of  course  ;  but  of  the  Indian  race  partly  ?  Oh,  quite  out  of 
the  question.  "  Vaya  una  idea  !" 

V did  a  little  portrait  of  her,  which  she  seemed  to  admire 

prodigiously,  and  called  one  of  the  gqlopinas  in  to  look  at  it.  They 
both  praised  the  performance  highly,  and  at  last  Victoriana  sud- 
denly snatched  up  the  drawing  and  ran  off  with  it.  We  ran  after 
her,  begging  her  to  restore  it  (as  we  wanted  to  keep  it) ;  but  she 
concealed  it  somewhere,  and  then  returned,  looking  very  demure, 
as  if  nothing  had  happened.  "  Como  dice  Vm.  ?  Me  habla  Vm.  ? 
No  entiendo  bien  lo  que  Vm.  dice  !"  (which  was  just  possible  !) 
"  Vaya  vaya  el  retrato,  el  dibujo  ?"  "  Si,  el  retrato,  es  muy  bon- 
ito.:>  After  ineffectual  attempts  to  make  her  refund  it,  another 
was  done,  which  she  served  in  exactly  the  same  way.  Off  sho 
scampered  with  it,  like  a  mouse  carrying  off  a  morsel  of  cheese  to 
its  hole  to  devour  it  at  leisure.  It  was  useless  to  draw  her  any 
more,  as  it  was  evident  if  one  hundred  and  fifty  were  sketched  they 
would  all  be  carried  off  and  hidden  in  a  similar  manner. 

If  other  travelers  should  take  the  fancy  to  sketch  her  too,  what 


GENERAL  HERRERA.  207 

a  gallery  of  portraits  she  will  have,  and  all  of  herself !  She  looked 
so  enchanted,  however,  with  her  own  beaux  yeux  on  paper,  that  I 
think  she  intends  distributing  these  little  representations  of  herself 
among  her  relations  and  friends,  to  show  them  how  handsome  she 
is,  of  which  fact  she  might  think  they  were  not  sufficiently  aware, 
and,  therefore,  designs  impressing  it  on  their  minds  duly. 

There  is  a  very  splendid  bedstead  here,  most  beautifully  inlaid 
with  mother-of-pearl :  the  workmanship  is  exquisite. 


CHAPTEPv   XXX. 

General  Herrera,  the  President  of  Mexico,  and  the  American  Minister — 
Chapultepec  assaulted  and  taken  by  General  Scott — Enormous  Cypresses 
in  the  Garden  of  Montezuma — Dona  Mariana,  the  Aztec  Wife  of  Cortez 
— View  from  the  Summit  of  Chapultepec  Castle — Impressions  caused  by 
it — The  Mountains  Tacubaya  and  Toluca — Tanks  and  Baths  of  Monte- 
zuma— The  Opera-house  at  Mexico — The  fat  comic  Actress  and  the 
brilliantly  dressed  One — Beauty  of  Mexican  Ladies — Madame  Bishop—- 
Payments in  Kind  for  her  Singing — Beautiful  Appearance  of  the  Stars  in 
Mexico— View  of  dusty  Victims  alighting  from  the  Diligence — The 
Brother  of  M.  Arago  the  Astronomer — The  Volcanoes,  Popocatepetl  and 
Iztacchihuatl — Patio  of  M.  Arago. 

THIS  morning  we  had  a  visit  from  our  excellent  friend,  Mr. 

L ,  who  was  presented  to  the  President  in  due  form  yesterday, 

and  delivered  his  address  extremely  well. 

He  told  us  he  had  never  been  accustomed,  in  his  own  country, 
to  so  much  form,  and  pomp,  and  state,  and  ceremony  as  is  observed 
by  the  Mexican  President,  and  that — owing  to  this  circumstance 
— and  being  rather  taken  by  surprise  in  these  particulars,  he  felt 
a  little  nervousness  and  trepidation  which,  however,  soon  passed 
over.  By  the  account  he  gave  us  of  it,  the  President  of  Mexico 

must  assume  much  of  monarchical  state.  Mr. said  General 

Herrera  was  seated  on  a  sort  of  throne  raised  on  a  platform  at  one 
end  of  the  hall,  under  a  splendid  canopy,  with  many  ministers  and 
officers  around  him,  the  latter  dressed  in  very  costly  and  magnifi- 
cent uniforms.  "  Such  splendid  and  bedizened-out  uniforms,  to  be 
sure;  and,"  he  added,  laughingly,  "I  thought  it  must  all  look  just 
like  Solomon  on  his  throne,  with  his  great  courtiers  round  him."' 

Mr. had  been  offered  the  choice  of  coming  to  this  country  or 

going  to  St.  Petersburgh.  I  think  the  grandeur  and  splendor  of 


208  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

the  Czar's  court  would  have  struck  him  a  little  more  than  General 
Herrera's  republican  royalty. 

He  seemed  much  pleased  with  the  President  and  his  reception, 
and  appears  altogether  to  like  Mexico,  which,  rharming  as  it  is, 
is  a  compliment  to  it,  for  I  believe  he  had  never  left  home  before : 
under  these  circumstances  it  is  very  common,  as  well  as  natural, 
to  feel  a  little  of  the  mal  du  pays.  He  is  looking  for  a  house,  as 
he  expects  Mrs. will  join  him  in  May. 

We  have  had  a  delightful  visit  to  Chapultepec  :  this  fortified 
castle  was  taken  by  the  American  forces  in  the  late  war,  under 
General  Scott.  It  is  the  most  haunted  by  old  Aztec  memories  of 
all  the  traditionary  and  interesting  localities  which  Mexico  can 
claim.  We  had  a  charming  drive. 

Chapultepec  is  an  isolated  volcanic  hill,  rising  in  the  centre  of 
the  great  plain,  about  three-quarters  of  a  league  from  the  capital. 
The  Indian  name  for  it  may  be  interpreted,  I  believe,  the  "  Hill" 
of  Grasshoppers."  Its  position  is  singular  and  remarkable;  it 
shoots  up  boldly  in  the  heart  of  the  valley,  precipitously  steep  on 
all  sides ;  the  zig-zagging  road  has  still  the  adobe  embankments 
(adobes  are  sun-dried  bricks),  and  the  little  comer  batteries  which 
the  Mexicans  threw  up  in  anticipation  of  the  American  attack, 
and  there  are  almost  innumerable  traces  of  General  Scott's  cannon 
balls,  from  Tacubaya,  and  from  the  elevated  ground  to  the  rear  of 
Molino  del  Rey  ;  these  are  to  be  seen  in  all  directions.  The  poor 
Mexicans  had  a  too  plentiful  peppering  for  their  frijoles  on  that 
occasion. 

But  before  I  say  more  of  the  fortress  of  Chapultepec  let  me  do 
homage  to  the  great  cypresses  in  what  is  still  called  the  Garden 
of  Montezuma.  We  drew  up  to  within  a  short  distance  of  them 

in  the  carriage,  and  Mr.  D then  proposed  that  we  should 

alight  and  walk  toward  them,  which  we  did  through  a  tangled 
wilderness  of  yellow  flowers.  They  are  the  most  glorious  trees  I 
ever  beheld.  The  largest  of  them  all  was  said,  by  Humboldt,  to 
be  forty-one  feet  in  circumference ;  but  I  am  told  it  is  actually 
forty-five  feet.  It  certainly  looks  yet  more  than  this.  The  vast 
trunk  seemed  to  me  like  a  noble  tower  shooting  toward  the  sky, 
and  lost  in  its  own  far-spreading  and  mighty  cloud  of  deep  green 
foliage,  where  half  an  arrny  might  have  hid — a  la  "King  Charles 
in  his  oak."  Soft  streamers  of  thick  gray  moss  depend  from  every 
bough,  which  gives  these  trees  a  doubly  venerable  and  patriarchal 
appearance. 

The  cypress  which  is  second  in  size  to  the  huge  one  I  have 


ENORMOUS  CYPRESSES.  209 

mentioned,  is  little  inferior  in  any  respect ;  and  indeed  by  some  it 
is  thought  more  beautiful  and  graceful.  There  are  several  others 
of  dimensions  almost  similar.  Would  not  Michael  Angelo,  that 
poet-sculptor,  have  thundered  at  them,  as  he  did  at  his  own  Moses, 
though  with  a  different  feeling,  "  speak !"  Think  what  they 
could  tell,  had  they  tongues  (and  brains  and  memories  into  the 
bargain,  by  the  way).  Venerable  were  they  when  Montezuma 
was  a  puling  infant,  and  a  mischievous  hobble-de-hoy  !  and  they 
looked  on  in  unaltered  unshaken  majesty,  while  the  gallant  Scott 
thundered,  with  his  conquering  artillery,  against  the  strongholds 
of  the  descendants  of  Montezurna's  Spanish  conquerors  ;  while  the 
echoes  of  the  world-overspreading  Anglo-Saxon  tongue  thrilled 
through  the  branches  of  those  thousand  year-old  monarchs  of  the 
forest,  and  may  have  rejoiced  the  shades  of  the  avenged  Aztecs. 

The  opening  onset  of  the  gallant  and  ever- victorious  Americans, 
when  they  stormed  Chapultepec,  was  made  under  cover  of  these 
mammoth  trees.  Perchance  these  stately  survivors  of  empires 
creeds,  triumphs,  wars,  and  a  hundred  changes,  may  still  stand  in 
their  solemn  pride  and  lordly  majesty,  when  a  hundred  other 
changes  may  have  transformed  all  around  but  themselves  and 
their  mighty  comrades,  the  mountains. 

It  is  whispered  by  the  voice  of  superstition,  that  these  scenes 
are  haunted  by  Malinche — not  the  mountain  but  the  maiden, 
though  a  walking  mountain  might  stalk  under  those  trees — in 
short,  by  the  spectre  of  the  celebrated  Dona  Mariana,  the  beaute- 
ous Aztec  love  of  the  great  Cortez.  If  such  be  the  case,  she  is  a 
ghost  of  taste,  it  must  be  owned ;  and  one  can  not  wonder  she 
snatched  away  the  heart  of  the  gallant  Cortez — not  in  the  way 
her  countrymen,  the  red-jacketed  cannibal  priests  were  wont  to 
accomplish  such  operations.  She  became,  as  it  were,  a  sort  of 
counter-conqueror,  and  ruled  rather  despotically  over  the  great 
captain  of  the  age. 

The  true  name  of  these  cypresses  is  Ahuahuete  (Sabino  ahua- 
kuete,  or  Cupressus  disticlui).  The  chief  of  these  is  called 
Montezuma's  cypress.  At  the  village  of  Atlixco,  there  is  said  to 
be  a  cypress  (they  are  not  like  what  we  in  England  call  by  that 
name)  seventy-six  feet  in  circumference,  and  which  is  supposed  to 
be  one  of  the  oldest  of  vegetable  monuments  on  the  face  of  the 
globe,  if  not  indeed  the  most  ancient. 

But  this  is  not  all.  At  a  village  called  St.  Maria  del  Tule, 
ten  miles  to  the  east  of  the  capital,  there  is  an  immense  trunk  of 
the  same  species  of  cypress,  measuring  one  hundred  and  eighteen 


210  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

feet  in  circumference,  though  by  all  accounts  it  would  appear  to  be 
three  stems,  closely,  almost  imperceptibly,  joined  together.  It 
must  be  like  the  great  "  Boabab"  of  Asia;  but  the  suspicion  of 
this  latter  one  being  a  treble  tree,  renders  it  less  interesting.  I 
confess,  in  one  of  the  mighty  Ahuahuetes  that  I  saw,  I  detected 
something  that  looked  as  if  a  similar  process  had  taken  place. 
There  is  certainly  a  suspicious  line  along  the  trunk ;  but  I  am 
assured  I  am  wrong,  and  by  those  likely  to  know  better  than  I  do. 

After  admiring  this  giant  grove  for  some  time,  we  crept,  feeling 
very  microscopical  and  mite-like,  back  to  the  carriage,  which  had 
assumed  considerably  the  appearance  of  a  nut-shell  drawn  by  the 
"industrious  fleas,"  formerly  in  vogue  in  London,  by  comparison 
with  these  colossal  suzerains  of  the  vegetable  world.  We  in- 
tended to  drive  up  the  precipitously  steep  (but  zig-zagged)  ascent' 
on  which  stands  embattled  the  castle,  but  the  fates  willed  it  other- 
wise, and  we  had  not  gone  many  yards  before  the  harness  broke, 
and  our  gallant  grays  (fine-looking  American  horses)  were  relieved 
from  the  trouble  of  dragging  us  up.  The  Mexican  cochcro  in- 
dulged in  some  vituperations  against  the  American  harness;  the 
horses  took  the  whole  affair  very  philosophically  ;  and  we,  anxious 
to  see  the  beauteous  view  which  we  knew  the  elevated  summit 

of  Chapultepec   must  present,  left  Mr. to  superintend  the 

criados,  and  the  reparation  of  the  damage,  and  climbed  up  the  hill. 

It  was  rather  toilsome  work,  but  "we  felt  a  great  reward  was 
awaiting  us ;  we  pushed  on  vigorously,  and,  at  length,  found  our- 
selves on  the  height,  and  on  a  broad  graveled  terrace  fronting  the 
entrance.  Trumpets  wese  sounding  cheerily,  but  we  staid  not 
to  ascertain  why  or  where,  intent  upon  taking,  not  the  castle,  but 
the  best  possible  position  for  seeing  the  hermosa  vista.  The 
commandant — as  we  afterward  ascertained  he  was — came  for- 
ward, arid  very  courteously  asked  if  we  would  like  to  see  the  view 
from  the  azotca  of  the  castle,  and  observed  we  must  be  much 
fatigued  by  climbing  the  precipitous  ascent.  I  informed  him  of 
the  accident  that  had  occurred,  and  that  we  had  corne  with  the 
Ministro  Ingles,  who  was  detained  at  the  bottom  of  the  hill  by 
the  misfortune  aforesaid.  He  immediately  said  he  knew  the 
ministro,  and  scarcely  had  he  pronounced  the  words,  before  Mr. 

D appeared  on  the  esplanade,  having  scrambled  up  by  a 

short  cut,  I  believe,  and  a  still  more  steep  and  far  more  rugged 
path  than  the  one  we  followed.  Indeed,  it  looked  pretty  nearly 
perpendicular.  Mutual  civilities  were  exchanged,  and  we  forth- 
with hurried  to  the  flat  roof  of  the  castle. 


SCENERY  FROM  CHAPULTEPEC.  211 

What  a  Paradise  world  we  saw  !  the  different  and  greatly  di- 
versified scenes  were  all  mingled  and  mixed  in  beauty  without 
end.  How  surpassingly  grand  was  the  apparently  illimitable  and 
gigantically-castellated  amphitheatre  of  heights !  The  sun  shone 
gloriously,  and  the  stupendous  mountains,  especially  the  magnifi- 
cent Popocatepetl  and  Iztaccihuatl,  seemed  joining  earth  and 
heaven,  yet  with  their  mighty  foreheads  turning  pale  at  their  own 
audacity,  blanched  as  they  are  by  interfulgerit  snows. 

To  particularize  the  separate  glories  of  this  unparalleled  pano- 
rama to  one's  self  at  first  seemed  impossible  ;  aH.  appeared  to  be 
blended  together  in  one  magical  unity.  After  long,  long  gazing, 
till  that  ocean  of  beauty  seemed  to  spread  over  the  whole  mind 
and  spirit,  and  leave  every  thought  bathed  and  streaming  with  its 
splendors,  one  began  to  know  that  this  vision  of  magnificence  was 
composed  of  various  parts — some  earthly  and  material  parts  too : 
but  still  it  was — oh,  how  glorious  !  and  from  that  height  all  below 
was  so  still,  so  calm  ;  shining,  too,  in  such  a  blaze  of  dazzling  light, 
that  the  earth  around  you  seemed  no  more  the  common  earth. 

Some  mighty  change  seemed  to  have  taken  place — you  gazed 
on  dreamily,  and  the  scene  seemed  to  grow  more  and  more  awful 
in  its  beauty — Nature's  apotheosis,  as  it  were  ;  a  world  divided 
from  the  sinning,  struggling  world  without.  The  grand  mount- 
ains seemed  not  so  much  like  vast  masses  of  earth  towering  up 
and  heaving  their  giant  forms  toward  the  cerulean  firmament,  as 
stooping,  downward-leaning  heavens  themselves — immeasurably 
vast  stupendous  stalactites,  depending  grandly  from  the  unimagin- 
able heights  of  an  overarching  Celestial  Universe  above  ;  in  short, 
all  kinds  of  wild  fancies  entered  one's  mind — for  really  it  was  as 
if  the  loveliness  and  majesty  of  a  thousand  worlds  were  concen- 
trated here. 

But  it  is  not,  after  all,  so  much  the  scene  itself,  as  the  great 
and  boundless  glory  the  imagination  ever  lends  it ;  for  the  soul 
once  awakened,  and  stirred  and  thrilled  by  the  sight  of  that  mag- 
nificent scenery,  makes  it  ten  thousand  fold  more  glorious.  She 
heaps  far  other  mountains  of  more  transcending  height  upon  those 
visible  ones  ;  and  it  is  she  who  clothes  them  with  a  heavenly 
awfulness,  and  it  is  she  who  kindles  the  firmament  into  most  un- 
utterable splendor  above,  as  if  it  were  all  made  of  the  moving 
brightness  of  angels'  blazing  passing  shadows ;  and  it  is  she  who 
brings  the  stars  in  their  mid-majesty  as  suns,  as  worlds  gorgeously 
shimmering  down  upon  that  paradisiacal  prospect :  for  she  unites 
it  with  all  that  the  immense  and  glorious  universe,  without  a 


212  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

shadow  of  a  limit,  hath  of  the  majestic,  and  of  the  lovely,  and  of 
the  terrible. 

Perhaps  it  might  he  thought  that  the  view  of  the  city  of  Mex- 
ico would  detract  a  little  from  the  visionary  appearance  of  this 
world-wide  prospect ;  but,  indeed,  it  does  not.  Its  glittering  tow- 
ers, its  many  churches  and  convents  and  domes,  looked  almost 
spiritually  beautiful  at  that  distance,  with  that  exquisite  sunlight 
beaming  upon  them,  and  making  them  sparkle  like  silver  and 
crystal,  as  beautiful  as  if  they  all  (like  what  is  reported  of  Puebla's 
cathedral)  were  built  by  angelic  architects,  and  of  supernatural 
materials. 

The  valley  itself  looks  matchlessly  lovely  from  Chapultepec  ; 
and  if  there  are  some  symptoms  here  and  there  of  a  lack  of  care 
and  cultivation,  the  few  uninhabited  haciendas,  partly  dilapidated, 
with  patches  of  earth  around  them,  left  to  the  wildness  of  Nature, 
were  the  more  picturesque,  and  lent  more  variety  to  the  scene. 
There  were  vast  tracts  covered  by  the  silvery-gleaming  planta- 
tions of  magueys  to  be  seen,  great  fields  where  herds  of  cattle 
were  pasturing  ;  exquisite  gardens,  rainbows  of  the  earth,  shadow- 
ing paseos  near  the  city,  and  groves  of  many-foliaged  trees. 

Then  how  endless  appeared  all  the  beauteous  shapes  of  the 
nearer  rocks  and  hills  ;  and  how  the  fertile  variegated  valley  of 
enchantment  flows  far  in  among  the  mighty  mountains  in  some 
parts,  which  seem  to  fall  back  before  it,  and  so  the  ever-waving 
lines  are  beyond  imagination  varied  and  lovely. 

In  one  part  the  rocks  and  heights  are  far  off  in  the  horizon,  and 
in  another  they  are  almost  running  into  the  valley,  like  rugged 
promontories  and  capes  frowning  and  peering  down  on  its  tranquil 
scenes. 

But  the  sparkling  canals  must  not  be  forgotten  ;  nor  the  stately 
aqueducts,  with  their  open  tops  and  noble  lines  of  a  thousand  arch- 
es ;  nor  the  sapphire-tinted  lakes  ;  nor  the  romantic  villages,  with 
their  clustering  masses  of  trees  ;  nor  the  lordly  avenues  of  bright- 
leaved  poplars  and  shady  elms  leading  to  the  city  ;  nor  the  won- 
derful skies  above,  that  looked  clear,  brilliant,  fervid,  and  glowing, 
as  if  they  were  all  of  blue  flame,  burning  more  and  more  brightly 
every  moment.  Only  fifteen  miles  beyond  Tacubaya  tower  the 
mountains  of  Toluca,  and  Guadaloupe's  apparently  insulated  hills 
are  not  much  further  on  the  opposite  side  ;  but,  in  the  other  di- 
rections, the  valley  spreads  its  sea-like  surface  between  fifty  and 
sixty  miles  before  it  reaches  the  everlastingly-planted  feet  of  the 
mountains. 


CASTLE  OF  CHAPULTEPEC.  213 

Tacubaya  lies  near  Chapultepec,  with  her  gardens  of  flowers, 
and  her  pomp  of  sumptuous  palaces.  The  shrine  of  "  Our  Lady 
of  Guadaloupe"  stands  on  the  brink  of  a  mountain  promontory, 
which  sallies  out  toward  the  lovely  Lake  of  Tezcuco.  To  the 
north  is  Tacuba.  The  tops,  I  might  well  say  the  great  domes  of 
foliage  of  the  gigantic  cypresses  were  at  our  feet  to  the  left. 
Among  the  hamlets,  scattered  about  to  the  southward,  are  those 
of  San  Augustin,  San  Angel,  and  various  others. 

We  then  went  and  looked  down  the  steep  rocks  over  which  it 
is  said  the  unfortunate  Mexicans,  after  having  given  up  all  further 
thoughts  of  defense,  flung  themselves  in  despair,  and  fell  crushed 
and  mangled  at  the  base.  While  we  were  there,  a  little  com- 
mandantino  ran  out  of  the  castle,  in  the  shape  of  the  Colonel's 
pretty  boy,  a  charming  little  fellow,  with  a  sword  by  his  side,  the 
most  soldier-like  strut,  and  the  blackest  and  merriest  of  eyes. 

After  thanking  the  obliging  commandant  for  his  civility,  we 
descended,  and  went  to  see  the  tanks  and  baths  of  Montezuma. 
One  could  not  but  look  back,  again  and  again,  on  the  colossal 
Ahuahuetes,  that  had  overshadowed,  perhaps,  in  the  olden  time 
the  imperial  ruler  of  the  Mexicans — and  what  a  presence  chamber 
would  that  glorious  grove  have  been — what  a  hall  of  audience ! 
If  powerful  kings  had  come  to  visit  the  Aztec  monarch,  could  he 
have  received  them  in  a  nobler  state  chamber  ?  What  a  canopy 
more  than  regal,  over  his  head,  fretted  with  the  diamond  and 

golden  dews  of  evening !  Mr.  L might  have  thought  of 

Solomon's  glories,  indeed,  under  such  circumstances,  and  still  more 
of  those  wonders  and  triumphs  of  Nature — of  her  prodigal  riches 
of  vegetation,  that  excel  him  "  in  all  his  glory." 

The  castle  of  Chapultepec  was  built  by  the  viceroy  Galvez,  the 
last  representative  of  the  Spanish  monarchy  in  this  country.  The 
vice-queen  was  a  famed  beauty,  and  was  exceedingly  popular  in 
Mexico  ;  and  he  was  wealthy  and  magnificent.  It  was  supposed 
to  have  cost  the  Spanish  government  three  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars. Chapultepec  was  "said  to  have  occasioned  great  jealousy  and 
suspicion  to  the  Mexicans.  Though  thus  originally  built  as  a 
mere  summer  palace,  its  commanding  and  excellent  position,  forti- 
fied and  strengthened  with  walls  and  parapets  toward  Mexico, 
with  moats  and  underground  vaults  to  the  north,  which  were  suf- 
ficiently large  to  contain  an  immense  supply  of  provisions,  rendered 
such  a  distrust  and  suspicion  not  unnatural.  It  was  something 
like  the  deception  practiced  concerning  the  fortifications  of  Paris ; 
only  it  was  pretended  there,  that  they  were  built  to  guard  against 


214  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

the  possible  attacks  of  a  foreign  foe,  and  here,  that  there  was  no 
fortification  contemplated  at  all,  only  a  summer  mansion  with  a 
beautiful  view  for  the  innocent  delights  of  the  Villegiatura. 

One  thousand  and  fifty  bombs  fell  on  this  devoted  fortress,  during 
the  late  hostilities,  before  the  assault.  The  head-quarters  of  Gen- 
eral Scott  were  in  the  palace  of  the  Bishop  of  Tacubaya,  which 
place  is  clearly  visible  from  Chapultepec,  and  said  to  be  actually 
within  the  reach  of  its  guns.  Though  Chapultepec  was  well  de- 
fended and  manned  by  artillery  and  infantry,  it  is  not  considered 
that  it  can  use  cannon  to  advantage  when  the  attacking  forces 
have  approached  the  base  of  the  rock. 

We  paid  a  visit  to  the  great  square  tank,  from  whence,  we  are 
told,  the  grand  aqueduct  is  supplied.  Its  water  is  of  the  clearest 
sparkling  crystal,  and  of  the  most  exquisite  transparency.  The 
"  Koh-i-noor,"  the  "  Mountain  of  Light,"  can  hardly  be  brighter. 
There  is  a  cave  too  of  no  great  dimensions. 

One  more  look  at  that  glorious  grove,  at  those  hoary  and  won- 
drous trees,  and,  above  all,  at  the  stupendous  giant  of  them  all, 
standing  there  in  its  mighty  greatness,  so  solemn,  so  placid,  so 
darkly  and  silently  sublime,  with  its  own  vast  shadow  making  an 
eclipse,  and  an  evening  twilight,  and  shedding  a  gathered  gloom 
and  a  dense  duskiness  around — in  itself  a  wood — and  then  back  to 
lovely  Mexico. 

We  rolled  through  the  gates,  and  went  on  at  a  fair  pace,  till 
our  harness  gave  way  again,  and  caused  a  little  delay.  At  last 
we  gained  the  paseo  in  safety,  where  our  rope-repaired  tackle 'could 
not  have  shone  very  brilliantly ;  but  we  little  minded  that,  and 
rattled  steadily  on  to  the  Hotel  de  Diligencias,  when,  after  bid- 
ding good-even  to  Mr. ,  we  went  to  dinner,  with  our  thoughts 

full  of  giant  cypresses,  mountains,  Montezumas,  Malinches,  and 
fortresses. 

I  must  now  say  a  word  or  two  about  the  Mexican  Opera-house 
which  we  went  to,  though  the  opera  company  is  not  here  now ; 
but  plays  are  performed  there.  It  is  a  very  handsome  theatre  in- 
deed, and  the  box  of  the  Ministro  Ingles  is  capitally  situated.  We 
had  a  Spanish  comedy.  A  senora  acted,  and  very  well  too,  who 
had  formerly,  I  believe,  been  a  celebrated  beauty ;  but  she  was  too 
fat  to  permit  the  beaux  restes  to  vouch  much  for  her  previous  per- 
fection. Without  being  absolutely  like  the  lady  whom  a  friend  of 
mine  compared  to  a  "feather  bed  in  spectacles"  (that  lady  wore 
glasses),  she  bore  a  faint  resemblance  to  a  very  liberally  stuffed 
eider-down  quilt.  She,  however,  was  full  of  life  and  merriment, 


MEXICAN  OPERA-HOUSE.  215 

and  the  very  dimples  on  her  broad  elbows  seemed  to  laugh,  ha! 
ha !  as  she  shook  with  the  severe  exercise,  which  the  employment 
of  the  risible  faculties  was  for  her,  when  occasionally  during  some 
droll  passage  of  the  performance,  she  indulged  in  it. 

Another  senora  on  the  stage  was  very  brilliantly  dressed,  as  a 
Madrilena  (a  native  of  Madrid).  Whether  the  costume  was  cor- 
rect I  can  not  say,  not  having  been  in  that  part  of  Spain.  It  was 
one  of  the  costumes,  I  imagine,  of  the  middle  classes.  The  dress 
was  of  white  satin,  with  very  bright  full  scarlet  flouncings,  and  a 
large  black  lace  mantilla,  most  gracefully  and  coquettishly  disposed, 
with  a  single  flower,  I  think,  on  one  side  of  the  head,  fastened  on 
the  splendid  ebon  braids  of  hair.  The  wearer  of  the  dress  looked 
extremely  pretty  in  it,  and  the  costume  itself  had  altogether  a  very 
pretty  and  graceful  effect,  though  the  description  does  not  sound 
promising. 

My  attention  being  a  little  taken  up  by  looking  at  the  house, 
and  having  the  different  occupants  of  the  boxes  pointed  out  to  me, 
I  could  not  very  satisfactorily  follow  the  speakers  on  the  stage ; 
but  even  when  I  did  not  perfectly  catch  the  point  of  the  remarks 
and  repartees,  those  merry  dimples  aforesaid,  on  the  fat  shaking 
elbows  and  shoulders — those  dimples  laughing  so  heartily  (till  they, 
and  all  that  was  visible  round  them,  turned  to  a  scarlet,  almost  as 
bright  as  the  Madrilena's  flounces) — those  dimples  almost  in  hys- 
terics, made  one  laugh  just  as  much  as  if  one  had  thoroughly 
understood  the  joke. 

Diamonds  were  in  profusion  ;  some  of  the  ladies  were  very  beau- 
tiful, and  seemed  extremely  well  dressed  ;  they  had  the  usual  dark 
flashing  eyes  of  Mexico,  and  the  graceful  Spanish  manner  of  play- 
ing with  their  fans.  I  saw  no  smoking  among  the  ladies — there 
may  have  been  a  little,  but  I  am  inclined  to  think  not. 

Madame  Bishop  has  lately  been  singing  here,  and  was  exceed- 
ingly admired  and  popular  in  Mexico.  She  went  into  the  prov- 
inces also,  and  I  hear,  at  some  of  the  theatres  there,  her  sweet 
sounds  were  sometimes  paid  in  fighting-cocks  and  cigars  ;  to  such 
an  extent,  indeed,  that  she  was  obliged  tp  advertise  in  the  papers 
that  she  could  receive  no  more  payments  in  "  crowing  Chanticleers" 
or  prime  "  Havannas,"  and  that  none  would  be  taken  at  the 
doors. 

There  was  a  little  divertissement,  an  Andalusian  dance,  &c. 
On  coming  out  of  the  theatre,  I  was  almost  rooted  to  the  spot  by 
the  marvelous  beauty  of  the  stars.  I  never  saw  them  so  glorious 
before  any  where — so  large,  so  lustrous.  The  Persian  idolater 


216  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

might  have  found  a  thousand  suns  there  to  worship  ;  they  literally 
gleamed  with  the  different  colors  of  the  rainbow.  One  had  a 
crimson,  another  an  emerald  tinge ;  a  third  shone  on  the  deep, 
blue,  glorious  sky,  like  cerulean  fire  on  cerulean  air.  They  spark- 
led, and  quivered,  and  blazed,  and  lightened  in  their  splendor,  till 
the  heavens  seemed  all  stirring,  and  breathing,  and  living.  When 
we  remarked  this  diversity  of  colors  to  Lord  Mark  afterward,  he 
laughingly  exclaimed,  "  So  even  Mexican  stars  wear  the  national 
sarape,"  which  idea  amazingly  amused  V . 

We  have  a  broad  balcony  running  all  round  the  interior  of  this 
hotel,  on  the  floor  on  which  we  are.  On  the  lower  story  are 
almacens  (warehouses).  The  dining  saloon  on  this  floor  runs  out 
far  across  the  court-yard  like  a  glass  promontory,  for  it  is  more  like 
a  conservatory  than  a  comedor  (dining-room),  and  seems  to  try  and 
make  up  by  its  vast  profusion  of  windows  for  the  deficiencies  of 
these  agreeable  additions  to  a  house,  elsewhere  in  the  hotel.  When 
we  were,  by  chance,  occasionally  a  little  tired  of  the  sky  prospect 
afforded  by  our  claraboya  (skylight)  in  this  cloudless  climate,  one 
sheet  of  blue,  with  hardly  the  least  little  vagrant  cloud  to  diversify 
the  view,  we  wandered  forth  on  to  the  balcony  (sooth  to  say,  per- 
petual sight-seeing  has  left  us  but  little  time  in  which  to  grow 
tired  of  our  sky-peep),  as  this  balcony  commanded  a  splendid  view 
of  dusty  diligences,  and  various  vehicles  of  that  kind.  We  were 
often  amused  at  the  comical  sights  presented  when  the  door  was 
opened,  and  the  cramped  wretched  passengers  rolled  out  on  the 
pavement. 

Frightful  is  the  deeply-rooted  wickedness  of  the  human  heart. 
We  rather  rejoiced  than  otherwise  at  the  spectacle  of  sufferings 
we  had  ourselves  undergone,  and,, .as  if  with  mocking  exultation, 
watched  the  unfortunate  occupants  of  the  caches  by  slow  degrees 
exhibiting  signs  of  life.  At  first,  perhaps,  when  the  doors  of  the 
dungeon  were  opened,  apparently  a  very  large  brown  paper  parcel 
would  tumble  down  the  steps,  and  stand  miraculously  upright  in 
the  court-yard.  Then  you  would  see  it,  as  it  were,  suddenly  gal- 
vanized, and  displaying  every  appearance  of  life.  Indeed  at  length 
this  rather  uncommon  brown  paper  parcel  would  be  seized  as  with 
an  ague  fit — a  vehement  shaking  from  head  to  foot — when,  lo  !  a 
huge  quantity  of  dust,  almost  amounting  to  land  enough  for  a  little 
Italian  principality,  would  fly  off',  and  a  reboso,  with  a  gown,  would 
become  visible ;  and,  finally,  a  senora  appear,  looking  wild  and 
haggard  from  fatigue.  What  is  that,  too,  which  descends  the 
steps  like  a  white  formless  mist — like  the  smoke  which  the  eastern 


THE  VOLCANOES.  217 


fisherman  saw  come  slowly  out  of  the  vase  in  the  Arabian  tale ! 
Gaze  steadily,  and  affer  a  while  you  will  see  that  nebula  resolved 
into  two  starry  eyes  (and  perhaps  a  diamond-luminary  or  two 
sparkling  on  the  fingers)  as- a  once  ^  light  and  graceful  senorita, 
lamed  and  bruised  by  the  jolting  she  has  suffered,  limps  away, 
settling  her  rcboso,  and  coaxing  her  hair  into  a  little  order.  Some- 
times one  would  see  the  newly-arrived  shampooing  themselves 
vigorously,  and  extending  their  arms  very  tenderly  and  carefully, 
not  to  clasp  them  around  the  necks  of  cherished  objects  waiting  to 
welcome  them,  but  that  the  poor  wretched  objects  themselves  may 
ascertain  whether  or  no  these  members  are  sound  and  unbroken. 
Hark !  there  thunders  in  the  Puebla  Diligeneia !  Behold  that 
vast  violoncello-case,  all  travel-stained  and  dusty,  which  can  with 
difficulty  be  pushed  through  the  coach-door.  Hush  !  a  groan  !  the 
last  of  the  bass-strings  must  be  broken  !  What  a  mighty  instru- 
ment ;  what  a  size !  the  very  Lablache  of  double  basses  !  But, 
stay !  that  peon  has  run  against  it,  a  cloud  of  dust  arises,  and — 
strange  metamorphosis — lo!  a  jolly  padre,  immovable  from  cramp 
and  weariness  !  He  stands  in  every  body's  way  ;  the  great  Amer- 
ican horses  shove  by  him  on  this  side,  the  bustling  cochero  on,  that. 
"  Fuera  !  padre" — at  last  he  totters  off. 

We  have  been  to  see  the  two  magnificent  volcanoes  this  mor- 
ning, accompanied  by  Mr.  P from  the  azotea  of  the  Casa  de 

Bazar.  This  hotel  is  kept  by  a  brother  of  the  far-famed  M.  Arago, 
the  distinguished  French  astronomer  and  statesman.  I  mentioned 
to  him  that  a  friend  of  mine  was  acquainted  whh  his  celebrated 
brother.  "  Ah,  madame,  vous  voulez  dire  mon  frere  1'astronome  V* 
I  said  yes,  and  he  told  me  it  was  very  long  indeed  since  he  had 
seen  that  famous  brother  of  his,  and  that  he  himself  had  been  so 
long  settled  in  Mexico,  it  seemed  easier  to  him  to  speak  Spanish 
than  French.  He  is  said  to  be  very  like  the  astronomer  in  appear- 
ance. He  was  particularly  courteous  and  obliging,  and  accompanied 
.  us  up  to  the  azotea,  which  was  a  splendid  one  of  great  extent. 

Language  can  not  depict  the  majesty  and  beauty  of  Popocatepetl 
and  Iztaccihuatl  that  morning.  The  atmosphere  was  remarkably 
and  peculiarly  clear,  even  for  Mexico,  which  was  the  reason  of  our 

little  expedition.  I  had  received  a  hasty  note  from  Mr. ,  early 

in  the  morning,  stating  tins  fact,  and  recommending  that  we  should 
lose  no  time  in  repairing  to  the  azotea,  to  see  the  volcanoes  in  their 
fullest  glory.  We  found,  to  our  dismay,  that  this  house  was  azotea- 

less,  but  were  advised  by  Mr.  P to  go  to  M.  Arago's  hotel 

without  delay  :  he  offering  to  escort  us  there,  being  acquainted 

K 


218  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

•with  M.  Arago.  We  lost  no  time,  and  I  am  indeed  glad  to  have 
had  so  favorable  an  opportunity  of  seeing,  in  its  greatest  splendor, 
one  of  the  most  sublime  scenes  in  creation.  Though  the  sun  was 
terribly  hot  there,  we  could  not  for  some  time  tear  ourselves  away 
from  the  contemplation  of  all  that  august  magnificence  of  Nature. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  Popocatepetl  far  out-towers  Mont 
Blanc. 

Before  we  went  down  stairs,  M.  Arago  asked  me  to  look  down 
upon  his  patio,  which  is  really  beautiful,  with  superb  fountains 
and  corridors,  the  loveliest  and  most  graceful,  and  a  vast  profusion 
of  large  gayly-colored  Chinese  lamps,  or  lanterns,  which  are  lighted 
every  evening,  and  must  produce  the  most  magical  effect,  reflected 
by  the  sparkling  waters  of  the  clear  fountains.  Trees,  covered 
with  flowers  in  all  seasons,  overshadow  costly  tables  of  marble, 
and  guard  from  the  hot  sun,  in  the  day-time,  the  visitors  to  the 
Cafe  de  Bazaar  adjoining  the  hotel.  The^  hotel  is  crammed  with 
guests. 

In  returning,  we  were  pestered  with  beggars,  especially  Liliputian 
leperos,  mounted  like  monkeys  on  each  other's  shoulders,  and  keep- 
ing up  the  most  inharmonious  din.  The  hair  of  one  was  like  a 
huge  gooseberry-bush,  and  she  would  most  pertinaciously  follow  us, 
though  there  was  hardly  room  for  us  and  her  shock  of  hair  on  the 
broad  pavement :  it  stuck  out  at  the  sides  like  two  great  black 
wings,  so  that  I  was  constantly  corning  in  contact  with  that  un- 
pleasant hair.  A  little  brother  or  sister  was  perched  on  the  girl's 
shoulders,  and  helped  to  do  the  whining  work.  I  think  this 
spread-out  forest  of  tangled  locks  was  partly  designed  as  a  defensive 
wall  to  the  head  that  seemed  lost  in  it ;  for  you  see  tormented 
pedestrians  frequently  dealing  rather  desperate  blo\vs  at  the  crowns 
of  these  indefatigable  persecutors — altogether  forgetful  of  the  more 
gentle  "  Perdone  V."  They  certainly  plague  one  out  of  patience. 
I  have  not  seen  any  of  the  deformed  lepcros  mounted  on  the 
shoulders  of  porters,  or  peons,  that  Mr.  Ruxton  describes — perhaps 
that  portermanship  is  out  of  fashion. 


CHAPTER   XXXI. 

Intention  to  cross  the  Isthmus  of  Panama — The  Carnival  at  Mexico— Mag- 
nificence of  the  Cathedral  during  that  Festival — Throngs  of  picturesque 
People  in  the  Streets — The  Masks — A  grotesque  Equestrian — Carnival 
Quiz  on  English  and  French  Horsewomen — The  Mexican  Riding-dress — 
Mexican  Eyes — High-pacing  of  Mexican  Horses — Mr.  Parrott  instru- 
mental in  securing  California  to  the  Americans. 

I  FIND  we  can  not,  without  great  inconvenience  and  undergoing 
many  hardships,  visit  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  from  hence.  As  I 
am  most  Pacifically  inclined,  I  shall  follow  the  advice  of  several 
of  my  acquaintances  here  and  take  a  trip  across  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama,  which  is  said  to  be  much  easier.  This  is  a  good  time 
for  going  there,  as  the  rainy  season  has  not  yet  commenced. 

I  shall,  however,  proceed  there  as  soon  as  possible,  as  before  very 
long  the  beginning  of  the  unfavorable  season  may  be  anticipated, 
and  this  will  considerably,  and  to  my  great  regret,  curtail  my  visit 
to  matchless  Mexico ;  for  if  we  do  not  go  from  Vera  Cruz  by  the 
next  British  steamer,  we  should  be  detained  here  so  long  that  the 
bad  weather  would  probably  be  set  in  by  the  time  we  got  to  Chagres, 
and,  as  there  is  no  steamer  direct  to  Chagres,  we  have  to  go  round 
by  the  Havana,  from  whence  I  shall  go  probably  in  one  of  the 
American  steamers  to  the  Isthmus. 

Here  the  carnival  is  now  going  on,  and  we  have  been  escorted 
by  Mr.  P ,  to  see  the  cathedral  in  all  its  pomp  :  it  was  aston- 
ishingly magnificent.  The  quantity  of  gold  and  silver  and  gorgeous 
jewels,  and  ornaments  of  different  kinds  was  prodigious,  and  the 
brilliancy  of  the  whole  scene  was  almost  too  dazzling.  All  around 
the  great  altar  it  seemed  to  have  snowed  miraculous  brightness 
and  sparkling  splendors,  for  every  thing  was  draped  with  spotless 
white  satin,  and  glittering  with  spangles  and  embroidery,  and  with 
solid  silver. 

Some  very  fine  music  was  pealing  through  the  vast  church, 
with  a  noble  and  impressive  effect.  There  were  many  priests 
officiating,  who  seemed  scarcely  able  to  move  under  the  weight  of 
their  sumptuous  dresses ;  crowds  of  people  in  holiday  dresses  were 
in  the  cathedral,  and  the  odor  of  incense  was  delicious. 

The  great  square  was  very  gay.  There  were  throngs  of  women 
in  various  dresses ;  some  with  china  shawls  of  half  a  hundred 
colors  ;  some  in,  country  costumes,  among  whom  shone  conspicuous 


220  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

the  brilliantly-attired  Poblanas  (women  from  Puebla),  sombreroed 
caballeros,  blanketed  Indians,  priests,  children,  friars,  soldados — it 
was  quite  overflowing. 

The  leperos  mustered  as  strong  as  usual,  but  were  far  too  much 
taken  up  with  gazing  at  my  chatelaine  to  importune  me  seriously  ; 
they  came  to  beg,  but  they  remained  to  stare ;  so  the  chatelaine 
made  a  capital  diversion.  Perhaps  they  thought  it  was  a  choice 
assortment  of  weapons  to  ward  them  off  with. 

I  must  now  speak  of  our  drive  in  the  paseo  to  see  the  masks. 
There  were  a  goodly  number  of  soldiers  there  to  preserve  order  and 
prevent  any  carriage  from  breaking  the  line,  and  creating  thereby 
a  confusion,  which,  no  doubt  was  necessary,  as  the  crowds  of  car- 
riages were  extraordinary  ;  they  appeared  innumerable,  and  so  did 
the  horsemen.  It  was  riot  dull,  for  the  masks  and  costumes  were 
capital,  and  the  variety  was  almost  bewildering ;  but  it  was  the 
very  quietest  carnival  I  ever  saw. 

One  or  two  groups  of  extraordinarily-dressed  individuals  were 
much  followed  and  shouted  after,  but,  in  general,  a  great  silence 
prevailed,  and  the  pedestrians  who  thronged  the  promenades  on 
each  side  of  the  drive,  merely  just  by  a  bright  smile,  which  dis- 
played commonly  a  brilliant  set  of  teeth  flashing  like  the  driven 
snow  in  the  sun,  expressed  their  pleasure  and  mirth.  One  gro- 
tesque mask,  who  seemed  a  great  favorite,  was  a  capitally  repre- 
sented, enormous  black  bear  on  horseback  (no  such  wonderful 
phenomenon  after  all),  holding  the  reins  in  the  most  delicate  and 
dandy-like  style,  in  its  huge  paws;  and  caracolling  about  to  the 
great  edification  of  all,  the  little  boys  especially,  inthe  place. 

There  were  some  masked  ladies  riding,  with  immensely  long 
habits  trailing  along  (they  were  men  dressed  up),  floating  vails, 
and  jaunty  riding  hats  arid  whips ;  these  were  a  quiz  upon  En- 
glish and  French  equestrianesses.  There  were  some  pretended 
ladies  also  driving  themselves  in  a  light  sort  of  pony  carriage, 
a  I'Anglaise,  with  bonnets  and  doll's  parasols — these  were  excel- 
lent. There  were,  of  course,  a  vast  number  of  Turks,  Moors, 
knights,  cavaliers,  &c. 

Of  all  the  dresses,  the  most  beautiful  was  the  Mexican  full  dress 
(the  riding  costume)  itself.  The  sombreros  most  profusely  orna- 
mented with  the  brightest  of  silver ;  the  splendidly-embroidered 
jackets,  with  hanging  buttons  of  silver ;  the  trowsers,  also  embroi- 
dered and  thickly  adorned  with  similar  silver  buttons  (these  are 
slit  up  the  leg  and  display  an  under  pair,  of  the  whitest  linen  be- 
neath) ;  and  the  spurs  delicately  and  richly  ornamented,  and 


MEXICAN  HORSES.  221 


about  the  usual  unusual  size,  were  superb.  Occasionally  the 
gold-embroidered  manga  would  be  gracefully  worn,  and  they 
sometimes  display  a  kind  of  winged  shoe.  The  horses  seemed  to 
me  almost  without  exception  beautiful  ;  their  trappings  were  very 
sumptuous  and  picturesque. 

Among  the  lookers-on,  we  saw  very  many  fine  faces,  with  the 
almost  perpetual  houri-like  eye — large,  dark,  and  lustrous — till  you 
got  rather  tired  of  it,  and  might  even  think  the  pink  variety  (such 
as  the  ferret's,  or  the  albino's)  pleasing,  by  way  of  a  change.  The 
blue,  of  course,  is  quite  a  relief.  Not  that  I  mean  t6  disparage 
Mexican  eyes,  they  are  magnificent ;  but  at  least  one  thinks  a  lit- 
tle variety  would  do  no  harm.  Human  nature  is  so  fond  of  nov- 
elty in  all  countries,  save  perhaps  France  (which  is  so  constant  to 
ceaseless  change  it  is  quite  remarkable  how  that  surprising  and 
consistent  people  retain  their  tastes,  and  seem  never  tired  of  that 
old  game  of  theirs — pulling  down  and  setting  up  constitutions).  I 
must  say,  however,  on  the  promenade  we  saw  some  lily-white 
giieras  (blondes,  fair  women),  most  likely  Germans,  Americans,  or 
English,  with  very  blue  eyes,  flaxen  hair,  and  light  skins. 

The  quantities  of  splendidly-colored  China  crape  shawls  upon 
the  shoulders  of  the  women  who  lined  the  sides  of  the  road  were 
astonishing.  One  would  think  they  must  have  bought  up  half  the 
manufactories  of  China. 

Tired  of  the  scene,  at  length  we  wished  to  return  toward  home, 
but  found  we  must  go  back  the  whole  length  of  the  drive  first ; 
for  the  soldiers  would  not  hear  of  letting  any  body  break  the  ranks. 
It  was  rather  tiresome,  and  I  was  only  consoled  by  watching  the 
beautiful  horses,  mostly  high-stepping  Brazeadors,  that  went 
prancing  along,  looking  as  conceited  as  any  Christians,  and  twice 
as  handsome.  I  have  been  positively  assured  that  they  teach 
them  to  raise  up  their  fore-legs  immensely  high  (which  they  al- 
most all  do)  by  putting  on  them  magnifying  spectacles  when  they 
are  young,  by  which  means  the  stones  on  the  road  are  made  to 
appear  like  large  blocks  in  the  way,  and  they  lift  up  their  legs  in 
order  to  step  over  them,  and  so  acquire  the  habit.  I  dare  say  the 
reader  will  laugh  incredulously,  but  I  tell  him  just  what  was  told 
me  as  a  fact,  and  I  am  further  informed  this  is  constantly  prac- 
ticed in  South  America. 

We  got  home  at  last  ;  but  driving  through  the  streets  of  Mex- 
ico just  now  is  a  trial  to  the  skill  of  most  coachmen  ;  for  there  is 
a  new  order  come  out,  that  no  one  must  drive  within  a  certain 
number  of  inches  of  the  pavement.  The  Mexicans  themselves 


TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 


laugh  at  this  curious  regulation.  Mr. said  he  was  stopped 

the  other  day  on  this  account,  and  mightily  offended  the  official 
by  saying  he  had  forgotten  to  bring  a  yard  measure  with  him,  but 
would  hang  it  to  his  carriage-wheel  in  future.  The  man  was 
furious,  and  said  his  order  must  not  be  turned  into  ridicule.  The 
muzzle  of  a  pistol  then  peeped  out  in  answer,  and  ended  the  con- 
troversy. 

Victoriana  came  to  have  another  portrait  done  of  her,  for  her 
egotistical  gallery,  and  brought  another  muchacha  belonging  to 
the  house,  to  participate  also  in  the  benefits  of  a  paper-and-pencil 
immortalization.  But  the  amateur  artist  who  had  sketched  the 
two  previous  stolen  portraits,  was  not  much  in  the  humor  to  do  a 
third,  and  still  less  to  delineate  the  form  and  features  of  the  dam- 
sel who  accompanied  gentle  Victoriana.  For  the  former  had  cer- 
tainly less  charms  to  boast  of  than  her  patroness  had  ;  and  when 
I  state  that  that  twice-pictured  damsel  herself  bore  a  rather  strik- 
ing resemblance  to  an  individual  commonly  known  as  the  Knave 
of  Clubs  (and  to  that  gentleman,  too,  only  when  afflicted  with  the 
mumps — his  personal  charms  being  by  no  means  overpowering  at 
any  time),  it  will  not  excite  so  much  surprise.  It  perhaps  may 
be  conceived  that  Sir  Peter  Lely  might  have  felt  a  little  hesita- 
tion with  respect  to  admitting  this  new  candidate  for  pictorial 
honors  into  his  gallery  of  beauties  (had  she  lived  in  his  day),  and 
it  is  a  melancholy  fact  that  the  amateur  artist  before  alluded  to, 
looked  particularly  blank  at  the  not  very  charming  prospect  before 
her. 

Victoriana,  notwithstanding  her  likeness  to  the  knave  of  clubs, 
en  petite  sante,  had  at  least  a  very  pleasing  and  gay  good-humor- 
ed countenance,  but  her  poor  friend  was  the  most  forlorn  and  dole- 
ful-looking damsel  you  ever  beheld  (so  it  was  mumps  and  dumps) ; 
and  with  her  on  one  side  and  Victorina  on  the  other,  V look- 
ed like  Garrick  between  Tragedy  and  Comedy,  and  ought  to  have 
done  the  whole  group,  thus  including  herself,  in  these  characters. 

To  please  them,  at  last  she  did  two  little  rough  sketches,  suffi- 
ciently flattering  to  both  these  mulligatawny-complexioned  nymphs. 
Then  the  merry  one  looked  contemplative  and  absorbed  in  dream- 
ing and  delighted  thought,  as  she  gazed  on  her  own  picture  :  and 
the  dismal  one  turned  merry.  In  short,  Tragedy  looked  very 
comic,  and  Comedy  rather  tragic  and  serious  ;  perhaps  the  latter 
was  secretly  plotting  how  to  run  off  with  both  sketches  for  her 
private  collection  in  some  corner  of  the  scullery  devoted  to  high 
art. 


MR.  PARROTT.  223 


We  had  a  farewell  visit  from  our  friend  Mr.  Parrott,  who  is  to 
start  on  his  return  to  California  almost  immediately.  I  have 
heard,  not  from  himself,  but  from  others,  that  it  was  owing  to  his 
energy  and  promptitude  that  California  was  secured  to  the  Amer- 
icans. He  sent  an  express  to  the  American  commander-in-chief 
of  the  squadron  in  the  Pacific  announcing  the  war,  when  there 
was  an  idea  that  Great  Britain  would  attempt  to  take  California 
under  its  protection — an  idea  arising  from  the  circumstance  of 
there  being  a  large  British  force  concentrated  near,  and  indeed  at 
anchor  off  the  port  of  Mazatlan  at  the  time.  Notwithstanding 
there  was  considerable  difficulty  in  forwarding  this  express,  Mr. 
Parrott  contrived,  with  great  adroitness,  to  send  it  through  safely 
in  five  days,  the  usual  time  being  ten  days.  This  delivered  the 
first  news  of  the  war  to  the  United  States  forces  in  the  Pacific. 

Very  shortly  afterward  California  was  occupied,  without  any 
opposition  or  resistance  from  us,  by  Commodore  Sloat,  and  the 
force  under  his  command.  He  had  hardly  planted  the  American 
flag  in  the  territory,  when  our  eighty-gun  ship,  the  "  Collingwood," 
(admiral  Sir  G.  Seymour)  ran  into  the  harbor  of  Monterey ;  but 
if  any  designs  were  entertained  of  frustrating  the  plan  of  the 
Americans,  the  time  was  already  past,  when  any  obstacle  could 
successfully  be  thrown  in  their  way,  and  the  "  Collingwood" 
almost  immediately  (when  the  state  of  affairs  was  ascertained) 
took  her  departure. 

Of  course  I  can  not  answer  for  the  entire  correctness  of  this  ac- 
count, but  I  believe  it  is  substantially  true.  Mr.  Parrott,  during 
part  of  the  Mexican  war,  acted  as  volunteer.  He  told  me  he  had 
never  enjoyed  better  health  than  when  undergoing  all  kinds  of 
hardships  and  privations,  and  subsisting  entirely  on  rations  of  fat 
pork  ;  but  then  the  charming  Mexican  climate,  must  be  taken 
into  account. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Departure  for  Vera  Cruz — Threatened  Accident  to  the  Diligence — Last 
Look  at  Mexico,  and  its  early  Stirrers — The  Little  Penon — A  magnificent 
View — Passengers  by  the  Diligence — Splendid  Sombreros — The  Escort 
of  Lancers — Mexican  Robbers — Of  what  Class  composed — Some  of  their 
Exploits — Escorts  alleged  to  be  sometimes  Robbers — Arrival  at  Rio  Frio 

— Mr.  and  Mrs.  G The  Plain  of  Puebla—  Malinche — The  Pyramid 

of  Cholula — Its  early  History — Its  Height  and  Appearance — Chamber  dis- 
covered in  the  Pyramid — What  it  contained — Arrival  at  Puebla. 

WE  were  both  quite  unhappy  to  leave  beautiful  and  most  en- 
chanting Mexico.  Even  our  parting  with  good-natured,  kind  Vic- 
toriana,  was  quite  affecting !  After  telling  us  how  much  she 
siento'd  our  departure,  she  flung  her  arms  and  hair  about  us  most 
affectionately — those  mahogany  arms,  and  that  ebon  hair  almost 
strangled  us. 

We  left  Mexico  at  about  half-past  four  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
I  found,  during  the 'time  we  were  there,  that  one  attains  a  great 
proficiency  in  the  art  of  sleeping,  in  that  clear,  elastic  air,  and  on 
that  morning  we  dressed  and  prepared  for  our  journey,  between 
dreaming  and  waking.  While  I  saw  the  trunks  and  packages, 
busily  vanishing  one  after  the  other,  I  remained  in  such  a  state 
of  "  masterly  inactivity,"  that  I  scarcely  cared,  and  could  hardly 
rouse  myself;  even  when  those  dreadful  sounds,  "  the  diligence  is 
ready,"  broke  upon  my  ears.  However,  awake  or  asleep  we 
must  go,  and  we  hastily  passed  along  the  deserted  corridors,  a 
dreary  procession,  in  a  state  of  semi-consciousness,  mechanically 
following  our  cherished  carpet-bags,  and  well-beloved  boxes. 

Having  seen  their  "old  familiar  faces"  looking  down  upon  us 
from  the  mountain  heights,  of  the  diligence  summit,  we  clamber- 
ed into  that  imposing  vehicle.  The  companion  coach  was  ready 
hard  by,  and  off  we  started,  but  soon  stopped  again,  with  a  jerk 
that  almost,  or  quite  severed  soul  and  body,  but,  fortunately  the 
second  jerk,  on  starting  once  more,  brought  them  together  again. 

In  the  mean  time,  we  felt  naturally  -a  little  bewildered  and 
confused.  What  had  happened  ?  Surely  the  ladrones  had  not 
lassoed  the  cocJicro  on  the  box  of  the  diligence,  in  the  very  streets 
of  Mexico.  Or  had  that  careless  functionary,  driven  the  wheels 
within  the  quarter  of  an  inch  prescribed  by  law]  And  were  we 
all  about  to  be  summoned  before  some  dread  tribunal,  to  answer 


LAST  LOOK  AT  MEXICO.  225 

for  our  hair's  breadth  scrape  (not  'scape)1  We  knew  not,  nor  did 
we  ever  know,  for  on  we  plunged  in  the  half  lamp-lit  darkness 
(they  have  huge  swinging  lamps  swung  from  corner  to  corner), 
and  away  we  trotted  as  merrily,  as  before  this  little  incident, 
which  remained  clothed  in  impenetrable  mystery.  It  served 
thoroughly  to  awaken  us,  however,  so  that  we  took  our  last  look 
of  queenly  Mexico  with  very  wide-awake  eyes. 

How  quiet  seemed  those  streets,  generally  so  alive  with  busy 
thousands !  The  sereno  was  about  to  make  his  exit  from  the 
scene,  and  the  coal-seller,  the  carbonero,  his  entry  :  he  would  prob- 
ably be  soon  followed  by  the  mantequilleros  (lard-venders),  and 
the  lecheras  (milk-women),  the  carnicero  (butcher),  Indian  cam- 
bista  (exchanger),  tortilleros,  and  the  tender  duck-venders,  whose 
cry  is  "  Oh,  my  soul,  my  soul !  hot  ducks  !"  (but  I  believe  this  is 
an  evening  cry),  buhoneros  (peddlers),  the  honey  and  requeson-sel- 
lers,  and  agiiadores.  A  remarkably  picturesque  class,  are  these 
last.  They  are  water-carriers,  and  have  great  earthen  jars,  slung 
at  their  backs  by  a  strap,  which  passes  like  a  bandeau  across  the 
forehead.  Then  a  mere  trifle  of  a  jar,  as  they  seem  to  consider  it 
(we  should  find  rather  weighty  and  unwieldy),  swings  carelessly 
in  front,  to  balance  the  bigger  one,  by  a  hand  put  over  the  top  of 
the  head. 

The  sunrise  was  lovely,  and  when  we  looked  back  at  the  valley 
of  Mexico  in  the  golden  light  of  morning,  the  prospect  was  indeed, 
all  that  one  can  dream  of  the  beautiful  and  the  sublime.  It  was 
enough  to  electrify  a  mummy,  or  an  oyster  with  admiration. 

I  forgot  to  say,  when  we  reached  the  barrier  of  the  city,  we 
found  an  escort  of  soldiers  waiting  for  us,  who  immediately  ranged 
themselves  on  either  side  of  the  coche,  and  cantered  leisurely  along 
with  us.  It  was  after  quitting  the  shores  of  fair  Lake  Tezcuco, 
that  we  turned  to  the  south,  and  after  changing  horses  at  a  place 
called  the  little  Penon  (a  hill  standing  in  a  solitary  position  be- 
tween the  Lakes  of  Chalco  and  Xochimilco),  we  continued  our 
course  to  Ayotla. 

At  this  point  it  was  that  General  Scott's  army  quitted  the 
main  road  to  Mexico,  and  turning  round  the  Peiion  Grande  to  the 
south  of  the  city,  followed  the  opposite  shore  of  the  Chalco  Lake. 
It  was  near  this,  at  the  base  of  the  soaring  Peiion,  that  we  bade 
adieu  to  the  glorious  valley,  and  began  to  toil  up  the  ascent  of 
the  mountain. 

We  had  a  fresh  relay  of  horses,  at  a  flourishing-looking  Iwicien- 
da  of  considerable  size,  on  a  shelf  of  the  mountain,  and  it  was 


226  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

looking  back  from  that  spot,  that  the  prospect  of  the  unrivaled 
valley,  which  we  had  lately  left,  was  magnificent.  Looking  to- 
wards Tenango  and  Ameca,  we  beheld  a  vast  plain,  where  stretch- 
ed fields  of  verdant  corn,  and  shone  out  stately  haciendas,  and 
the  white  walls  of  populous  hamlets.  Chalco  spread  its  many- 
glittering  waveless  waters  beneath  us,  and  through  some  chasmy 
opening  in  the  surrounding  hills,  you  marked  Tezcuco,  holding  its 
sparkling  mirror  to  the  morning.  Onward  and  upward  then,  till 
that  earthly  heaven,  the  valley,  opened  all  its  apparently  world- 
wide scene  before  you — while  the  cloud-belted  giant  mountains — 
some  with  their  foreheads  dazzling  as  very  constellations  with 
perpetual  snow — seemed  placed  there  expressly  to  draw  the  glances 
of  mortals  to  the  skies,  lest  they  should  haply  forget  them  among 
such  endless  glories  and  such  bewilderment  of  beauty  around. 

Not  long  after  this  exquisite  view  we  got  deep  into  the  cold 
pine  forest,  which,  I  suppose,  is  the  beginning  of  the  tract  called 
the  "  Black  Forest ;"  and  we  were  glad  to  draw  our  cloaks  well 
around  us ;  the  air  felt  very  sharp.  We  reached,  at  length,  those 
savage  looking  defiles,  which  are  said  to  be  the  places  most 
haunted  by  robbers,  of  any  in  all  Mexico,  except,  perhaps,  the  coun- 
try about  Perote.  Our  gallant  little  squadron  of  lancers  took  oc- 
casionally, some  short  cuts  in  the  hilly  pine  woods,  but  kept,  how- 
ever, within  hail.  We  watched  them  with  some  little  anxiety ; 
and  the  party,  in  general,  was  observed  to  be  rather  more  cheer- 
ful, when  their  gaudy,  and  gracefully-wreathed  sarapes,  and  long 
lances,  with  streaming  scarlet  pennons,  were  very  close  to  the 
sides  of  the  carriage. 

I  have  not  mentioned,  on  coming  to  Mexico  we  had  passed  a 
tree  under  which  a  whole  set  of  robbers  had  been  shot  the  week 
before.  I  did  not  observe  it  on  our  return,  but  it  was  somewhere, 
I  think,  in  this  forest.  Our  diligence  was  nearly  full  :  we  occu- 
pied one  side,  and  besides  ourselves  there  was  an  agreeable  and 
very  poli  old  French  gentleman;  a  Mexican,  with  his  son,  natives 
of  Puebla,  and  returning  there  from  a  visit  to  the  capital ;  and  a 
young  Mexican  gentleman  who  had  been  educated  at  New  York, 
spoke  English  remarkably  well,  and  seemed  imbued  with  much 
admiration  of  "  The  States,"  which  he  in  courtesy  called  the 
United  ones. 

(Forgive  me,  my  dear  American  friends,  but  just  now,  when 
you  are  so  fiercely  quarreling,  it  is  allowable  to  say  this,  is  it  not  ? 
One  of  their  printers  the  other  day  unintentionally  anagrammized 
the  word,  and  printed  it  "  Untied  States."  However,  the  Amor- 


ESCORT  OF  LANCERS.  227 

leans  I  have  seen  in  Mexico  seem  to  think,  in  general,  all  these 
vexatious  disagreements  will  blow  over.) 

The  French  gentleman  and  two  of  the  Mexicans  were  carefully 
nursing  on  their  knees  splendid  sombreros — to  be  sported  on  high- 
days  arid  holidays,  I  suppose.  They  took  off  the  covers  which 
protected  their  treasures  from  dust  and  dirt,  and  they  were  ex- 
tremely handsome,  of  the  most  delicate  materials,  and  exquisitely 
decorated  with  silver.  One  had  the  costliest  little  silver  dog  on 
it  possible,  as  an  ornament,  to  join  the  silver  band,  if  I  recollect 
rightly  ;  it  was  so  beautifully  executed  it  almost  looked  alive,  and 
yet  was  only  about  the  size  of  the  famous  little  dog  in  the  fairy 
tale  that,  couched  in  a  nut,  betrayed  its  whereabouts  by  a  sharp 
little  "  Yap,  yap."  After  exhibiting  them  to  our  admiring  view 
(I  believe  they  thought  our  curiosity  was  excited  by  the  mysteri- 
ous way  in  which  they  were  folded  and  enwrapped),  they — espe- 
cially the  Frenchman — kept  up  a  very  animated  conversation,  in 
Spanish,  about  the  theatres,  the  great  carnival-ball,  and  so  on. 
How  happy  the  Frenchman  seemed,  talking  of  ballets  and  operas, 
and  of  his  seeing  Cerito  at  Paris,  and  Carlotta  Grisi,  Marie 
Taglioni,  and  half  a  hundred  more  ! 

A  Parisian  is  a  Parisian  every  where,  and  always ;  for,  except 
occasional  visits  to  France,  it  appeared  this  gentleman  had  been 
settled  in  Mexico  twenty  or  thirty  years  :  but  he  was,  notwith- 
standing that,  apparently  as  much  a  citizen  of  Paris  as  if  he  had 
never  penetrated  into  the  country  further  than  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne.  Every  now  and  then  they  stopped  in  the  middle  of 
an  entrcduit  (that  is,  the  description  of  one),  or  left  poor  Carlotta 
Grisi  balancing  herself,  with  great  grace,  and  twirling  upon  one 
leg  in  a  very  difficult  pas  and  posture,  to  throw  a  sidelong  glance 
out  of  the  window  to  see  whether  those  who  were  riding  so  close 
to  the  carriage  were  lancers  or  ladrones,  and,  after  this  brief 
investigation,  resumed  their  discourse,  till  higher  and  more  rugged 
rocks,  and  a  deeper  and  ever  deepening  gloom  of  crowding  pines, 
caused  another  reconnoitring  look,  and  many  an  uneasy  after-peep, 
cast  "  slantindicularly"  out  of  the  loop-holes  of  our  traveling 
fortress. 

One  of  our  lancers  was  a  negro ;  another  seemed  to  have  en- 
tirely run  to  mustaches  ;  a  third,  of  a  light  copper-color,  had 
swathed  himself  up  in  his  cloak  like  an  Egyptian  mummy  (evi- 
dently suffering  from  the  cold  severely)  ;  a  fourth  seemed  to  con- 
sist chiefly  of  lance  and  spurs,  and  the  point  of  a  bluish  nose — the 
points  of  the  one  and  the  other  equally  sharp.  The  fifth  was  a 


228  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

splendid  cavalier,  whose  spirited  horse  curveted  about  in  the 
most  graceful  style — but  I  will  not  go  on  particularizing.  Suffice 
it  that  all  were  sarape'd  up  almost  to  the  eyes,  and  that  altogether 
they  had  a  most  imposing  effect,  and  a  highly  picturesque  appear- 
ance. 

Their  uniform  was  multiform,  and  of  all  the  colors  of  the  rain- 
bow :  their  complexions  varied  almost  as  much,  and  their  horses 
were  not  behindhand  in  variety  of  hues — grays,  blacks,  alazans 
(sorrel-colored),  piebalds,  prietos  (dark  brown),  and  others.  I 
believe,  in  addition  to  their  lances,  they  are  armed  with  holster- 
pistols  and  escopettes. 

With  regard  to  the  robbers,  we  are  told  they  are  usually  very 
humane  and  often  courteous.  If  the  accounts  we  hear  of  them, 
from  even  Mexicans,  be  true,  they  ought  to  be  so,  as  they  are 
frequently  persons  belonging  to  good  society,  who  having  gambled 
away  their  property,  "  take  to  the  road,"  temporarily,  as  a  means 
of  recruiting  their  shattered  fortunes.  Gambling  is  the  curse  of 
Mexico. 

These  distinguished  marauders  appear  to  consider  this  a  sort  of 
guerilla  warfare,  which  is  not  derogatory  or  degrading — a  singular 
delusion,  to  say  the  least  of  it.  A  colonel  in  the  army,  we  were 
told,  was  shot  a  little  while  ago  for  heading  a  desperate  troop  of 
brigands  who  plundered  a  diligence,  and  this  is  said  to  be  by  no 
means  an  isolated  case  ;  but  that,  after  all,  may  be  an  exaggera- 
tion. One  thing  appears  certain  ;  they  are  generally  exceedingly 
civil  and  considerate  toward  passengers  who  at  once  give  up  their 
money  and  valuables. 

We  were  told  that  they  have  occasionally  robbed  a  party  of 
priests  ;  and  then,  having  ordered  the  poor  fat  padres  to  lie  on 
their  rubicund  faces  in  the  dust — la  boca  d  tierra,  while  they 
ransacked  their  trunks — they  have  insisted  on  the  panting,  puffing 
ecclesiastics  giving  them  absolution  for  their  sacrilegious  sin.  One 
day,  it  seems,  they  attacked  a  large  party  of  actors  and  actresses 
returning  from  a  visit  to  Mexico.  They  seized  their  heterogeneous 
wardrobe,  and  were  perfectly  enchanted  at  the  gorgeousness  of  the 
dresses,  glittering  with  tinsel  and  spangles.  They  could  not  resist 
the  delight  of  dressing  themselves  up  in  their  brilliant  costumes  ; 
and  while  one  accoutred  himself  like  a  Roman  senator,  hanging 
the  false  flowing  beard  (which  he  should  have  tied  to  his  ell-long 
mustaches)  behind  like  a  dragoon's  horsetail  to  his  helmet,  another 
attired  himself  in  the  graceful  costume  of  the  Sylphide,  with  a 
wreath  of  white  roses  stuck  on  the  top  of  his  great  bushy  head, 


MEXICAN  BRIGANDS.  L':>9 

and  the  little  gauzy  wings,  fastened  on  to  the  herculean  shoulders, 
so  that  he  looked  like  a  vast  cherub  booted  and  spurred — at  any 
rate,  we  may  imagine  such  mistakes  were  made.  A  party  of 
dragoons  galloped  up,  rescued  the  heroes  and  heroines  of  the 
buskin,  and  seized  for  summary  punishment  the  Sylphides  and 
senators. 

We  passed  numerous  crosses  on  our  road  through  these  gloomy 
regions,  which  indicated  where  murders  had  been  committed  ;  but 
these  might  be  relics  of  the  olden  time.  As  for  us,  we  had  im- 
mense, unbounded  confidence  in  the  lances  and  mustaches,  which 
had  so  warlike  an  appearance,  galloping  at  our  side.  They  seemed 
a  gallant  set  altogether,  and  determined  to  put  to  flight  any 
number  of  ladrones.  They  were  very  active  and  vigilant,  and 
spied  about  for  brigands,  as  if  they  would  rather  have  liked  a  little 
skirmish  than  not. 

Travelers,  however,  have  sometimes  told  me  in  Mexico,  that 
they  do  not  place  much  dependence  on  them.  They  say,  in  the 
first  place,  when  not  employed  as  escorts,  they  themselves  become 
the  robbers.  That  trifling  circumstance  matters  not  at  all,  I 
think,  or  is  rather  favorable  than  otherwise  ;  for  they  must  know 
the  haunts  and  habits  of  their  sometimes  comrades  particularly 
well.  And  then  it  is  so  seldom  now  that  travelers  carry  any  real 
valuables  with  them  on  these  dangerous  roads,  that  their  pay  and 
gratuities  as  protectors  must  be  in  general  a  more  certain  source 
of  livelihood  to  them,  than  their  booty  as  banditti.  Besides,  oc- 
casionally travelers  must  be  allowed  to  go  safely,  otherwise  they 
would  more  and  more  restrict  themselves  to  a  mere  change  of  linen 
and  a  few  cigars.  And  then  it  is  the  interest  of  these  soldados  to 
keep  up  the  confidence  of  riageros  in  escorts,  for  thus  they  are  al- 
ways sure  of  some  employment  and  emolument,  either  as  defenders 
or  defiers  of  the  law.  No  ;  I  am  resolved  that  nothing  shall  shake 
my  full  dependence  on  these  red  pennons  and  purple  points  of  noses. 

At  last  we  drew  up  at  the  door  of  the  posada  at  Rio  Frio, 
which  is  situated  a  short  distance  below  the  summit  of  this  un- 
comfortable pass,  without  having  seen  the  slightest  soupcon  of  a 
robber,  to  my  great  delight.  The  Almuerzo  was  already  pre- 
pared, and  we  had  wherewithal  in  our  purses  to  pay  for  it  to  boot. 
There  was  a  complete  hurricane  at  Rio  Frio. 

In  the  companion  coach  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  G ,  and  all 

their  children  (Mr.  G had  been  a  traveling  companion  of  ours 

to  Mexico).  His  wife  is  a  French  lady,  very  pleasing-looking,  and 
extremely  fair,  with  light-colored  hair.  She  traveled  a  fa  Mr.ri- 


TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 


came,  without  any  bonnet,  but,  however,  not  with  a  reboso  —  -in 
short,  with  nothing  at  all  on,  her  head  :  this  must  have  been  un- 
pleasant in  the  clouds  of  dust  that  were  whirling  about.  When 
they  got  out  to  go  to  breakfast,  two  or  three  little  blue-eyed  chil- 
dren were  blown  away  like  feathers,  and  the  poor  nurse  was  run- 
ning after  them  in  dismay,  and  waltzing  with  the  wind  in  the 
wildest  fashion.  I  remained  in  the  diligence  and  breakfasted  on 
biscuits.  I  had  rather  have  had  bear  for  breakfast,  as  we  had 
sometimes  on  the  Mississippi. 

Before  we  started,  Mr.  G  -  flew  (the  wind  being  favorable) 
to  the  side  of  the  carriage,  and  told  me  they  were  going  to  Puebla, 
where  we  should  all  stop  for  the  night,  and  I  anticipated  the  pleas- 
ure of  making  Mrs.  G  -  's  acquaintance  there  ;  but  fate  decided 
otherwise.  But  now,  the  horses  being  to  —  vainos,  the  cache  thun- 
ders along  amid  the  roaring  of  the  wind,  and  soon  we  enter  another 
somewhat  perilous  and  rugged  pass  —  but  this  opens  on  the  fair 
and  fertile  table-land  of  stately  Puebla. 

Boldly  stands  the  peak  of  Malinche  alone  upon  the  plain,  and 
it  is  the  first  spectacle  that  presents  itself  (and  a  very  noble  one 
too)  on  quitting  the  shade  of  the  woods.  The  table-land  over 
which  our  road  then  led,  descends  very  gradually  to  Puebla,  which 
is  a  distance  of  about  forty  miles.  It  is  covered  with  maize  and 
wheat  ;  but  there  does  not  .seem  to  be  any  division  into  hedged 
fields.  Here  and  there  you  see  haciendas,  and  churches,  and  gar- 
dens, and  ruins.  These  last  struck  us  much  when  we  first  came 
from  "  The  States,"  where  such  'a  thing  is  as  rare  as  a  Cape  jes- 
samine would  be  at  the  North  Pole.  Popocatapetl  looked  awfully 
beautiful  and  magnificent  from  there,  and  Iztaccihuatl  did  not 
yield  much  to  it  in  grandeur. 

I  believe  one  of  Cortez's  great  battles  was  fought  very  near  this 
volcano  of  Malinche  ;  but  I  get  a  little  puzzled  with  the  number 
of  volcanoes  and  mountains,  and  the  Aztec  and  American  battles 
—  Cortez  and  General  Scott,  "  El  grande  Emperador  Montezuma" 
and  gallant  "  Old  Zach." 

We  soon  came  in  sight  of  the  wonderful  and  huge  pyramid  of 
Cholula,  built  by  the  Aztecs  ;  it  is  supposed  as  a  Tcocalli.  A 
temple  to  Queatzalcoatl  formerly  stood  on  it  ;  but  now  it  is  crown- 
ed by  a  Christian  chapel  dedicated  to  the  Madonna. 

Some  antiquaries  have  conjectured  it  served  for  a  cemetery,  as 
well  as  a  sanctuary  of  religion.  It  is  thought  by  Humboldt  to  bear 
a  striking  resemblance  to  the  temple  of  Belus,  and  some  other 
Oriental  edifices.  It  is  believed  by  the  Indians  to  be  hollow  ;  and 


PYRAMID  OF  CHOLULA.  231 

they  have  a  curious  tradition  that  while  Cortez  remained  at  Cho- 
lula,  a  number  of  armed  warriors  were  concealed  in  it,  who  were 
to  have  attacked,  suddenly  and  unexpectedly,  the  Spanish  army. 
It  appears  to  be  true,  at  any  rate  that  Cortez,  having  some  cause 
for  distrust,  or  some  secret  information  of  such  an  intention,  as- 
saulted in  a  very  unlooked-for  manner  the  inhabitants  of  Puebla, 
and  put  six  thousand  to  the  sword. 

Humboldt  says  the  base  of  this  mighty  pyramid  is  almost  double 
that  of  the  great  pyramid  of  Cheops  in  Egypt ;  its  height,  how- 
ever, is  not  so  great.  It  is  said  to  be  constructed  most  exactly  in 
the  direction  of  the  cardinal  points.  It  consists  of  four  distinct 
terraces  or  pyramidical  stories,  and  is  entirely  built  with  alternate 
layers  of  clay  and  adobes  (sun-dried  bricks). 

The  pyramid  is  partly  covered  on  the  eastern  side  by  the  spon- 
taneous growth  of  vegetation,  some  prickly  pears,  and  different 
small  shrubs,  giving  it  at  a  little  distance,  rather  the  appearance 
of  a  natural  abrupt  conical-shaped  hill.  It  seems  to  equal  in  its 
elevation  which  is  entirely  artificial,  and  in  noble  form,  the  range 
of  hills  that  stands  in  the  front  of  it,  or  the  height  of  Tlaloc  that 
towers  behind  it.  You  ascend  to  the  platform  on  the  summit  by 
a  flight  of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  steps. 

When  the  present  high  road  was  made  from  Puebla  to  Mexico, 
the  first  story  of  the  Cholula  pyramid,  it  is  said,  was  cut  through, 
and  a  square  chamber  was  brought  to  light,  which  had  no  outlet, 
and  which  was  supported  by  beams  of  cypress,  and  singularly  con- 
structed, each  succeeding  course  of  bricks  passing  beyond  the  lower. 
In  this  square  chamber  were  found  two  skeletons,  some  basaltic 
idols,  and  a  few  painted  vases  varnished  in  a  curious  manner. 

It  is  said,  also,  that  there  are  fragmentary  masses  of  adobes  and 
clay  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  pyramid,  in  one  of  which, 
that  bore  the  aspect  of  an  old  fortress,  were  found  some  bones  of 
men,  earthenware,  and  warlike  arms  of  the  Aztecs.  Plantations 
of  aloes,  corn-fields,  and  lovely  gardens,  and  cultivated  grounds  en- 
viron Cholula.  Formerly  there  was  a  great  Aztec  city  of  Cholula. 

With  regard  to  this  extraordinary  pyramid,  I  think  the  people 
who  could  be  bold  enough  to  become  mountain-builders  within 
sight  of  those  stupendous  volcanoes,  Popocatapetl  and  Iztaccihuatl, 
and  so  many  other  mighty  mountains,  deserve  much  praise  for 
their  almost  sublime  audacity.  The  very  idea  was  amazingly 
grand  and  daring ;  but  when  you  add  to  this  that  they  succeeded 
in  leaving  to  future  generations  a  work  that  is  strikingly  noble 
and  magnificent,  even  in  so  trying  a  position,  it  must  be  conceded 


232  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

that  those  barbaric  tribes  have  some  claims  on  the  admiration  of 
posterity.  I  hope  when  we  arrive  at  Vera  Cruz  to  see  a  drawing 
of  the  pyramid  by  Lord  M.  Kerr.  He  intended  to  devote  some 
little  time  to  making  a  sketch  of  it. 

We  lost  sight  of  Cholula  at  last,  and  crossed  the  Tlascala 
River,  and  then  drew  near  to  the  many  churches,  and  towers,  and 
domes,  and  convents  of  populous  Puebla.  Just  as  we  were  about 
to  enter  the  town,  we  passed  the  second  diligence,  whose  huge  form 
loomed  almost  like  another  Cholula  on  wheels,  in  the  dusk,  with 
its  rather  tapering  load  of  trunks,  portmanteaus,  baskets,  and  car- 
pet bags.  We  imagined  they  had  stopped  to  have  the  harness 
adjusted,  as  we  thought  we  saw  some  shadowy  figures  standing  by 
the  horses.  However,  our  cochero  stopped  to  make  no  inquiries, 
nor  to  afford  any  assistance — on  he  drove  to  the  hotel. 

There  were  a  good  many  promenaders,  probably  just  returned 
from  the  Alameda,  in  the  streets,  and  some  cavaliers — I  believe 
masked — for  the  carnival  was  not  over ;  but  the  light  was  not 
brilliant  enough  for  us  to  see  well.  The  magnificent  cathedral 
seemed  heaving  its  giant  frame  to  the  sky,  till  you  might  almost 
fancy  that  those  angelic  visitants,  who  were  supposed  to  be  its 
builders,  were  lifting  it  from  the  earth  to  a  more  blessed  region. 
We  drove  through  the  Grand  Plaza,  and  soon  found  ourselves 
dashing  into  the  busy  court-yard  of  the  hotel. 

We  asked  for  quartos  immediately,  and  were  informed  they  had 
but  one  for  our  whole  party.  While  I  was  talking  to  the  superin- 
tendent, a  person  came  up  to  me,  and  began  speaking  to  me  in  a 
language  that  appeared  to  me  a  very  strange  one  indeed.  I  con- 
cluded it  might  possibly  be  Poblano-Spanish,  with  perhaps  a  slight 
mixture  of  some  Indian  dialect,  and  I  began  to  reply  in  Spanish, 
to  the  best  of  my  ability.  But  my  new  acquaintance  shook  her 
head,  and  made  a  fresh  trial,  and  I  then  discovered  this  unknown 
tongue  was  intended  for — English  ! 

She  was  a  German  (and,  by  the  flickering  lamp-light,  T  saw 
she  was  very  fair  and  light-haired,  and  Saxon-looking),  and  had 

come  to  Puebla  to  meet  Mrs.  G there,  to  whom  she  had  re- 

recently  engaged  herself  as  housekeeper.  She  was  in  great  trepi- 
dation at  their  non-arrival,  and  feared  some  accident  had  happened. 
I  told  her  all  I  knew,  and  we  agreed  that  they  would  probably 
soon  arrive. 

Another  coche  came  rattling  in,  and  down  rushed  the  poor  Ger- 
man, hoping  the  belated  travelers  were  in  it ;  but  she  soon  returned, 
looking  very  disconsolate,  saying — "  dal  not  dem."  Brief  as  Bern's 


ARRIVAL  AT  PUEBLA.  233 

letter  to,  or  of  the  Ban — "  Bern  Ban  baum  !"  Shortly  afterward, 
I  ascertained  that  they  had  sent  to  the  hotel  to  say  their  diligence 
had  broken  down,  and  to  beg  some  sort  of  carriage  might  be  dis- 
patched to  bring  them  and  their  luggage  immediately. 

In  the  mean  time,  I  had  secured  quartos.  Mr.  C ,  an  En- 
glish gentleman  whom  we  had  met  in  Mexico,  most  obligingly 
gave  up  his  room  to  us,  which  was  a  good-sized  one,  and  got  a 
small  den  somewhere.  The  maids  were  left  in  possession  of  a 
scrambling-looking  apartment,  that  had  been  destined  for  all  of  us, 
and  finding  the  poor  German  housekeeper  (who  was  not  in  the 
least  like  a  stately  functionary  of  that  description  in  looks,  for  she 
appeared  rather  svelte,  and  delicate,  and  pretty)  had  no  apartment, 
they  invited  her  to  share  theirs. 

We  were  not  sorry  to  see  a  good  dinner  make  its  appearance, 
which  was  goon  followed  by  its  disappearance ;  for  we  were  very 
hungry.  After  dinner,  foaming  chocolate  was  brought,  and  after 
chocolate  we  would  gladly  have  sought  repose,  but  we  felt  anxious 

to  see  Mr.  and  Mrs.  G and  their  children  arrive  in  safety,  and 

remained  up  for  some  time  ;  but  still  there  were  no  signs  of  them. 

So  V went  to  bed,  and  I  a  little  while  after,  as  we  had  to  be 

up  very  early  in  the  morning.  I  was  unfortunate  enough  thus  to 

miss  making  acquaintance  with  Mrs.  G ,  who,  I  was  told  in 

Mexico,  is  a  very  nice  person  indeed. 

Just  as  our  door  was  closed  for  the  night,  hasty  steps  were  heard 
on  the  stairs,  and  in  the  broad,  half-open  gallery,  sounds  of  voices 
speaking  French  and  English  were  distinctly  audible.  They  had, 
then,  arrived.*  My  maid  told  me,  the  next  day,  that  she  had  seen 
them,  and  that  they  had  been  detained  so  long  in  consequence  of 
there  being  no  conveyance  at  hand  to  send  for  them.  I  believe 
they  walked  to  the  hotel,  and  regretted  not  having  done  so  at 
once  ;  for  the  first  messenger  Mr.  G sent,  never  took  the  mes- 
sage at  all,  and  the  poor  children  were  naturally  wearied  out  with 
waiting  so  long  after  their  fatiguing  journey.  I  believe,  however, 
they  were  to  rest  a  little  at  Puebla,  before  they  proceeded  to  their 

new  home  ;  for,  if  I  remember  rightly,  Mr.  G has  given  up 

the  superintendentship  of  certain  Guanajuata  mines,  and  under- 
taken some  not  far  from  Xalapa,  for  which  he  is  to  receive  a  much 
more  liberal  salary. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

Departure  from  Puebla — Acajete — El  Final — Alarm  of  Ladrones — Discom- 
forts of  rough  Roads  exemplified — Pulque — Its  Taste — The  Plant  from 
which  it  is  extracted — Mode  of  extracting  it — Monde  de  Pizano — Arrival 
at  Perote — Coldness  of  that  Place  in  Winter. 

ON  the  following'  morning  we  had  to  rise  before  three  o'clock, 
and  so  were  obliged  to  give  up  visiting  the  Celestial  Cathedral  of 
Puebla. 

Away  we  thundered  through  the  deserted  streets,  and  suddenly 
came  to  a  dead  stop.  A  little  alarm,  lest  we  had  "  come  to  grief," 
like  poor  Mr.  and  Mrs.  G ,  was  quickly  dispelled  by  discover- 
ing the  cochero  had  dropped  his  cloak ;  so  the  conductor  had  to  go 
with  a  lantern,  hunting  in  the  streets  for  it.  The  horses  fidgeted, 
the  passengers  grumbled,  the  time  (as  it  has  a  habit  of  doing)  sped 
on  ;  but  presently  the  conductor  arrived,  and  brought  with  him 
the  lost  treasure,  and  off  we  rattled  again  to  the  east  to  meet  the 
morning. 

We  rolled  along  on  the  elevated  table-land,  feeling  a  little  cold, 
and  particularly  sleepy.  We  arrived  at  last  at  Amozoque,  which 
is  said  to  be  swarming  with  robbers ;  but  we  were  so  fortunate  as 
to  see  none.  From  this  place  you  ascend  by  a  very  gentle  inclina- 
tion, to  the  summit  of  the  separating  ridge  beyond  Perote.  Boldly 
and  proudly  towered  the  great  mountain  walls  of  the  table-land. 

The  next  relay  was  at  Acajete.  At  one  of  these  places  we 
tasted  some  spring  water,  said  to  be  wonderfully  fine,  but  we  did 
not  think  it  so  very  remarkable.  It  is  reported  that  a  large  gang 
of  ladrones  conceal  themselves  often  among  the  ravines  and  bar- 
rancas of  the  Acajete  mountains.  I  am  happy  to  say  they  did  not 
leave  their  ambush.  We  drove  on  pretty  rapidly  past  thickets, 
and  shelving  rocks,  and  frowning  precipices,  and  stopped  to  change 
horses  at  El  Final,  on  the  northern  side  of  the  mountain,  a  large 
and  fine  hacienda,  and  then  rattled  speedily  along  to  Nopaluca, 
where  the  diligencia  breakfasted. 

I  do  not  remember  accurately  where,  but  somewhere  not  very 
far  from  this,  there  was  an  alarm  of  ladrones  given  in  the  diligence. 
A  number  of  mounted  horsemen,  apparently  well  armed,  made 


ALARM  OF  LADRONES.  23r> 

their  appearance;  and  one,  who  looked  like  a  chief  or  captain 
among  them,  galloped  tolerably  near,  and  seemed  to  be  busily  oc- 
cupied in  reconnoitring  our  carriages,  the  passengers,  and  the  pos- 
sible booty. 

The  French  gentleman  seemed  convinced  they  were — "  Les 
voleurs  !  oui,  ma  foi,  les  voila,  tenez,  il  faut — Mais,  uon — attendez, 
voyons  un  peu.  Eh,  oui  !  c'est  le  merne  ;"  and  elevating  his 
voice,  leaning  half  out  of  the  carriage,  taking  off  his  sombrero, 
and  waving  his  hand,  he  called,  "  Como  !  Senor..  quien  se  lo  hubi- 
era  imaginado  ?  Se  lo  hubieran  esperado  ?  Pardiez  !  Me  alegro 
de  ver  a  V. !  Celebro  mucho  ver  a  V.  Me  atrevere  a  pedir 
adonde  va  V.  V  Many  compliments  passed  between  them,  and 
after  a  number  of  mutual  civilities  and  salutations,  and  a  perfect 
lightning  flash  of  brilliant  teeth,  shown  by  the  gracious  smiles  of 
the  caballero,  away  he  dashed  from  the  side  of  the  carriage,  still 
bowing  to  the  senoras,  and  being  joined  by  his  companions,  was 
soon  lost  to  sight.  The  French  gentleman  told  us,  he  had  met 
him  accidentally  somewhere,  and  been  enabled  to  show  him  some 
trifling  kindness  and  civility,  and  that  on  recognizing  him  so  luckily, 
he  reminded  the  caballero  of  it,  and  for  his  sake  were  thus  saved 
our  watches  and  coins. 

By  this  time  we  were  shaken  almost  out  of  all  knowledge  ;  one 
of  our  bonnets  looked  like  a  small  coal-scuttle  in  convulsions ;  a 
wretched  Mexican  had  his  sombrero  almost  smashed  into  his  face ; 
another  had  his  visage  knocked  about  with  many  whacks,  pleasingly 
diversifying  his  olive  complexion  with  patches  of  black  and  blue. 
When  we  attempted  to  talk,  it  was  very  much  like  speaking  in 
entrechats,  our  poor  words  had  to  cut  such  extraordinary  capers  in 
our  throats.  The  unhappy  Monsieur  seemed  at  one  moment  like 
an  Indian  juggler  about  to  bolt  a  sword,  scabbard  and  all,  or  a 
boa  constrictor  preparing1  to  swallow  its  victim,  and  beginning 
with  one  limb  at  first.  The  poor  man  had  only  got  his  neighbor's 
elbow,  in  his  mouth,  which  another  jolt  almost  sent  halfway  down 
his  throat. 

Our  conversation  was  necessarily  fitful.  "  Mais  ou  done  est 
mon  chapeau  ?  Cette  voiture  fait  danser  tout  d'une  maniere — 
Oh !  je  vous  en  prie — Ne  vous  derangez  pas,  Monsieur."  But 
Monsieur  just  at  that  moment  was  very  much  "  derange ;"  he  was 
tossed  as  in  a  blanket  to  the  highest  roof,  and  down  again,  and 
probably  alighted  upon  the  identical  chapeau  they  were  looking 
for.  "  No  le  incomoda  a  V.  este  paquete,  Senor  ?"  And  "  esre 
paqnete,"  at  the  same  moment  of  time,  lodged  itself  unscrupulously 


236  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

on  the  nose  of  the  civil  questioner.  "  Hombre  !  verdaderamente 
los  caminos  no  son  muy  buenos,  pero,  que  hermosa  vista !  Que 

magnifico  pais  !  Parece "  But  the  poor  wretch  just  then 

had  his  hat  jammed  over  his  eyes,  which  stopped  his  rapture. 
Shortly  after,  you  must  imagine  an  immensely  polite  conversation 
going  forward.  The  French  Monsieur  discovers  that  the  Mexican 
Senor  is  going  to  Xalapa  as  well  as  himself,  and  he  is  charmed. 
"  Tendre  el  placer  de  gozar  de  su  compania  de  V.,  porque  yo  tam- 

bien "  And  while  thus  saying,  even,  the  Senor  hits  him 

such  a  terrible  whack,  by  an  involuntary  butt  with  his  head,  that 
the  wretched  victim  is  doubled  up  for  half-an-hour  by  it. 

At  last  we  learned  to  watch  for  the  coming  jolt,  when  the  horses 
or  mules  were  all  at  full  gallop,  and  the  road  rather  worse  than 
usual.  At  the  first  symptoms  of  plunges  and  shocks,  conversation 
would  be  generally  as  suddenly  stopped,  as  if  the  whole  company  had 
unexpectedly  been  gagged  :  and  some  would  screw  their  mouths 
into  the  tightest  of  button-holes,  others  open  theirs  wide  (the  wisest 
plan,  which  I  can  safely  recommend,  as  it  saves  your  teeth  from 
being  jammed  together  in  lock-jaw  fashion,  or  played  upon  like 
castanets),  gasping  "  like  a  cat-fish  with  a  sock-dolager  hook  in  its 
mouth,"  but  all  exhibited  countenances  of  intense  horror.  We 
almost  felt  sometimes  as  if  our  heads  had  been  jolted  off.  and  re- 
jolted  on  again,  happy  if  each  got  his  own  head  back :  what  a 
shame  it  would  have  been  if  one  person  had  acquired  two,  and  aped 
Austria's  double-headed  eagle ! 

We  tried  some  pulque  for  the  first  time,  when  changing  horses 
at  one  of  the  posadas,  during  this  journey  :  the  first  time  I  ever 
saw  others  drinking  it,  I  thought  they  were  draining  large  draughts 
of  new  milk  (for  it  looks  exactly  like  it),  and  admired  much  the 
teetotalism  of  that  knot  of  arrieros,  and  rancheros,  and  mozos. 
Then  and  there  I  was  informed  it  was  the  famous  pulque  they 
were  so  industriously  imbibing. 

I  had  not  at  this  time  courage  to  taste  it,  for  I  heard  an  alarm- 
ing account  of  it ;  but  on  our  return  we  all  tasted  and  sipped. 

H and  W thought  it  like  indifferent  small  beer ;  I 

thought  it  like  nothing  exactly,  but  that  it  stood  "  alone  in  its  glory," 
— matchlessly  horrible.  But  I  can  just  imagine  that  you  might 
get  used  to  it  in  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  years,  and  in  a  hundred 
more  learn  to  like  it :  but,  on  second  thoughts,  1  think  this  is  a 
little  exaggeration,  and  you  might  by  possibility  become  an  earlier 
convert.  I  must  also  add,  to  give  the  stuff" its  due,  that  we  were 
told  that  this  was  very  inferior  pulque,  and  therefore  we  must  not 


PULQUE.  237 

condemn  universal  pulque  after  tasting  such  a  bad  specimen.  It 
is  said  to  be  but  very  little  intoxicating,  and  exceedingly  nutritious, 
BO  it  deserves  well  of  its  country  ;  and  its  countrymen  have  reason, 
to  prize  it,  and  sing  and  say,  as  Mr.  Ruxton  tells  us  they  sometimes 
do — "  Viva  nosotros  y  pulque." 

The  Maguey  (Agave  Americana),  from  which  this  beverage  is 
extracted,  is  an  aloe,  and  is  very  extensively  cultivated  in  Mexico. 
The  most  famous  plantations  of  it  are  in  the  vicinity  of  Cholula, 
and  also  those  in  the  Llanos  de  Apam  ;  there  are  many  places  be- 
sides celebrated  for  excellent  pulque,  as  the  valley  of  Teluco,  where 
the  pulque  is  supplied  from  immense  Maguey  grounds  near  Lerma, 
and  numerous  others.  The  plant  grows  wild  in  every  part  of 
Mexico,  but  is  not  cultivated  or  milked,  i.e.  drained  of  its  precious 
sap,  except  in  certain  districts.  I  should  imagine,  however,  the 
cultivation  of  it  is  fast  spreading,  as  the  consumption  appears  to 
be  perfectly  enormous.  We  saw  immense  fields  of  it  in  many  parts 
during  our  journey. 

The  process  of  preparing  for  the  supply  of  pulque  is  curious. 
When  the  central  shoot,  which  would  naturally  produce  the  flower, 
is  on  the  eve  of  making  its  appearance,  it  is  anticipated,  and  rather 
harshly  nipped  in  the  bud,  by  a  deep  incision  being  made,  and  the 
whole  heart  being  taken  out,  as  one  of  those  most  savage  and 
merciless  barbarians  of  civilized  life,  called  dentists,  extracts  a  tooth, 
by  the  roots.  This  operation  is  generally  performed  by  the  Indians, 
whose  forefathers  had  a  little  knack  of  doing  a  similar  service  to 
human  subjects,  but  not  with  such  beneficial  results.  Having  thus 
extracted  el  corazon,  only  the  stout  outside  rind  is  left,  which  acts 
the  part  of  a  natural  cistern,  or  large  basin,  both  deep  and  wide, 
into  which  the  sap,  which  dame  Nature  designed  for  the  sustenance 
of  the  immense  central  shoot,  oozes  perpetually  in  vast  quantities. 
Then  comes  the  experienced  Indian  (athirst  already,  and  fired  by 
thoughts  of  coming  pulque)  and  hacks  away  the  leaves  on  one 
side,  so  as  to  make  a  regular  breach  in  these  vegetable  battlements, 
and  thrusts  in  a  long  gourd  (acojote)  whose  lesser  end  is  finished 
ofF  by  a  horn,  while  a  small  square  orifice  is  left  at  the  other  ex- 
tremity, to  which  his  mouth  is  applied,  while  by  the  force  of  suction, 
he  extracts  the  sap,  which  sap,  before  fermentation  takes  place,  is 
named  agua-mid  (honey-water),  and,  in  accordance  with  its  name, 
has  an  extremely  sweet  taste,  and  is  quite  destitute  of  that  extra- 
ordinary smell  (not  much  unlike  that  of  eggs  in  the  sere  and  yellow 
leaf  of  their  existence)  which  appears  afterward  to  form  one  of  its 
peculiar  charms.  The  sap  is  allowed  to  ferment  for  about  fifteen. 


238  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

days,  when  it  becomes  what  they  term  madre  pulque  (the  mother 
of  pulque),  and  this  is  distributed — but  only  in  niggardly  quantities 
— among  the  troughs  which  are  to  receive  daily  accessions  of  agua- 
miel.  It  acts  as  a  kind  of  leaven,  fermentation  immediately  begins, 
and  in  about  a  day  the  pulque  is  ready  for  drinking.  "Viva  noso- 
tros  y  pulque  !" 

From  this  plant  is  also  prepared  a  horribly  strong  brandy  (which 
we  have  not  tasted)  called  Mexical  (or  Mezcal  or  Aguardiente  de 
Maguey),  which  'is  but  too  highly  approved  of  in  general  in  this 
country.  A  more  interesting  subject  in  connection  with  it,  is  the 
use  the  Aztecs  made  of  its  leaves  in  manufacturing  the  paper  on 
which  their  hieroglyphics  were  written,  some  fragments  of  which 
have  survived.  They  now  make  of  the  more  fibrous  portions,  a 
stout  thread,  or  twine,  called  pita,  which  is  formed  into  ropes,  and 
made  use  of  in  the  mines,  and  as  cordage  for  ships  on  the  Pacific 
coast :  it  is  said  to  be  very  strong  and  lasting.  In  short,  the 
Maguey  seems  to  play  an  important  part  in  Mexico  altogether. 

There  were  a  few  rocky  peaks  not  far  from  our  road ;  but 
dreaming  of  the  Tierra  Caliente — the  world  of  flowers  and  beauty 
we  were  soon  to  see — we  did  not  care  much  to  gaze  at  the  inhos- 
pitable looking  landscape,  save  where  afar  the  Cofire  de  Perote 
(whose  Indian  name  is  Nauhcampapetl)  gleamed  out,  and  mighty 
Orizaba  raised  his  refulgent  crest. 

We  came  at  length  to  La  Venta  de  Soto,  near  which  towers  a 
huge  pyramidal  peak  of  rock  of  perhaps  three  thousand  feet  high 
— Monte  de  Pizarro.  From  its  gloomy  clefts  and  hollows  and 
hiding-places,  it  is  reported  los  ladrones  often  start  to  terrify  and 
rob  passengers.  We  afterward  entered  into  that  lonely  rugged 
volcanic  region,  which  had  struck  us  much  in  coming,  but  which 
looked  particularly  wild,  bleak,  and  gloomy  by  the  evening  light, 
which  was  beginning  by  slow  degrees  to  fade  off. 

The  black  frowning  lava  scattered  in  broken  and  confused  beds, 
as  if  earthquakes  had  helped  in  those  olden  convulsions  of  Nature, 
to  produce  wilder  confusion,  looked  dreary  indeed.  Somewhere  in 
Mexico,  it  is  said,  a  whole  population  was  buried  alive  (as  at 
Pompeii,  I  suppose),  and  this  might  well  be  the  spot ;  for  many 
of  these  huge  blocks  of  lava  look  like  giant  tomb-stones.  There 
were  a  few  dilapidated  cabanas,  or  chozas  (huts  and  cottages),  left 
to  decay,  as  if  their  inhabitants  could  no  Jonger  endure  the  oppress- 
ive gloom  of  this  stern  and  savage  region.  Acheron  should  flow 
through  these  melancholy  congenial  scenes,  I  believe  it  is  called 
"  mal  pais"  (the  bad  country). 


ARRIVAL  AT  PEROTE.  239 

After  a  dismal  drive  across  this  cheerless  territory,  with  only 
the  grandeur  of  the  Coffre  de  Perote  to  admire,  we  arrived  at  the 
town.  The  fortress,  where  the  commandant  is  our  friend,  the 
Coronel  Aguado,  frowned  down  upon  us,  and  we  soon  galloped 
into  the  court-yard  belonging  to  that  well-remembered  collection 
of  dens  and  cellars,  which  is  called  an  hotel  in  Perote.  I  must 
not  omit  to  mention,  that  we  had  passed  innumerable  crosses,  each 
showing  where  some  poor  wretch  lies  buried.  The  people  here, 
as  before,  refused  us  a  separate  dinner  at  first,  and  afterward  re- 
lented, and  sent  us  a  very  good  one.  Before  dinner,  one  of  our 

compagnons  de  voyage,  Mr.  C ,  knocked  at  our  immense  barn 

doors,  and  wanted  to  know  if  he  could  be  of  any  use  in  sending  us 
dinner.  I  went  out  to  speak  to  him,  and  was  surprised  at  the 
metamorphosis  the  bleak  air  of  Siberia-like  Perote  had  wrought 
in  him — he  was  of  a  tint  hovering  between  azure  and  Prussian 
blue,  and  his  teeth  were  literally  chattering  in  his  head. 

After  dinner  we  had  some  delicious  chocolate.  We  had  a  most 
obliging  and  good-natured  woman  to  wait  on  us,  with  very  sweet 
and  pleasing  manners,  quite  too  good  and  amiable  for  such  a  wild, 
bleak,  drear,  robber-haunted  place.  She  seemed  like  a  disguised 
princess  in  Perote.  If  so,  she  was  the  most  condescending  one  in 
the  world,  for  she  ran  to  and  fro  with  the  greatest  alacrity,  bring- 
ing us  all  sorts  of  dishes,  stewed,  and  fried,  and  boiled. 

I  was  half  asleep  when  she  came  to  clear  away  the  things  and 
bring  chocolate.  I  told  her  I  was  horribly  tired  (for  a  wonder,  for 
I  very  seldom  am  so  with  traveling).  "  Y  con  razon,  Senorita — " 
(you  must  know  every  body  here  is  called  senorita — no  matter  if 
she  has  a  hundred  children,  and  is  a  hundred  herself,  she  is  still 
called  miss  and  child,  nina.  You  may  hear  sometimes  a  little 
beggar  girl  entreat  a  decrepit,  toothless,  bent-double  child  of  seven- 
ty, to  give  her  caridad,)  "  con  razon,  los  caminos  son  tan  malos, 
tan  detestables." 

She  told  me  she  had  sometimes  been  to  Puebla,  and  was  always 
half  dead  after  it.  I  asked  her  if  it  was  not  terribly  cold  at  Pe- 
rote in  the  winter  ;  "  O  si,  muchissima."  She  said  the  snow  was 
often  very  deep  for  a  long  time  together.  I  glanced  round  the 
room  and  thought  "  poor  travelers !"  in  order  to  have  any  light  in 
the  day-time,  they  must  have  their  door  open  ;  and  there  is  no 
stove  or  provision  of  any  sort  for  giving  warmth  to  the  desolate 
dens !  She  told  me  they  kept  themselves  warm  in  the  kitchen  ; 
but  altogether  a  Perote  winter  must  be  a  dreary  affair. 

After  a  Little  more  conversation,  she  went  to  find  a  lamp  for  us, 


240  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

and  returned  speedily  with  a  very  promising-looking  one.  She 
begged  us  then  to  lose  no  time  in  going  to  bed,  as  we  should  have 
to  get  up  at  about  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  ;  therefore,  in  her 
soft  musical  voice,  she  counseled  us  to  retire  immediately,  "  Se  lo 
suplica  a  V."  We  took  her  advice,  and  slept  well  till  a  terrify- 
ing rat-a-tatting  at  our  prison  gates  aroused  us  from  slumber,  and 
we  hastily  dressed  by  the  light  of  the  lamp  and  a  vela,  which  our 
kind  friend,  the  disguised  princess,  had  left  us. 

My  maid  told  me  there  was  an  immense  party  last  evening  at 
dinner,  for  a  great  number  of  Priests  and  Sisters  of  Charity  had 
arrived,  and  there  were  hardly  tables  and  dinner  enough  to  accom- 
modate them  all.  She  said  these  Sisters  of  Charity  appeared  all 
healthy,  stout,  hard-working  people  ;  and  their  rough,  coarse  hands 
seemed  to  be  accustomed  to  somewhat  severe  labor.  She  under- 
stood from  an  American  there,  that  they  had  just  come  from 
Spain. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Departure  from  Perote — Magnificent  Views  from  the  Heights — Impres- 
sions caused  by  them — The  Beauty  of  the  Approach  to  Xalapa  describ- 
ed— The  Mirage — Appearance  of  inverted  Houses — Hotel  de  Diligen- 
cias — Visit  to  a  Church — Negotiation  with  the  Mozo  touching  the  Sarape 
and  the  American  Blanket — Numbers  of  Friars  and  Nuns  from  Spain — 
Arrival  at  Vera  Cruz — A  curious  Fact  in  Relation  to  Dr.  Gutzlaff,  the 
Missionary  to  China — Arrival  of  the  Steamer  for  the  Havana. 

BITTERLY  cold  was  it  when  we  took  our  places  in  the  diligen- 
cia,  the  morning  we  bade  adieu  to  scowling  Perote,  after  having 
a  desayuno  of  coffee  and  chocolate,  and  a  small  roll,  brought  in 
compassionately  by  one  of  the  mozos,  for,  of  course,  our  poor  prin- 
cesa  was  still  locked  in  slumber. 

We  rolled  heavily  through  the  gloomy,  lifeless  streets,  which 
echoed  with  the  tramp,  tramp,  of  our  eight  mules.  Most  magnifi- 
cently shone  the  stars,  like  so  many  diamond  moons ;  but  they 
looked  almost  as  cold  as  ourselves.  On  we  went,  through  the  star- 
lit, piercing,  chilly  atmosphere,  between  ten  and  eleven  thousand 
feet,  or  thereabouts,  above  the  sea. 

At  last  the  pale  gray  of  morning  became  visible,  and  soon  after 
up  rose  the  glorious  welcome  sun,  and  showed  us  that  we  were  on 


VIEWS  FROM  THE  HEIGHTS.  241 

the  heights  of  the  pass,  and  about  to  descend  through  the  woods 
of  shadowing  pine.  Now  then,  for  all  the  climates  of  the  world, 
"  succeeding  each  other  in  layers,"  to  use  Baron  Humboldt's  well- 
known  expression  in  describing  Mexico.  For  the  visitor  to  this 
Land  of  Marvels,  the  traveler  in  these  magical  regions,  in  the  course 
of  a  couple  of  days  (and  it  is  possible  to  do  the  same  thing  in  a 
far  less  space  of  time — perhaps  in  some  parts  in  a  couple  of  hours), 
may  cast  his  eye  over  the  whole  scale  of  the  earth's  varied  vege- 
tation, from  the  Tropics'  gorgeous  and  dazzling  parasitical  plants, 
to  the  sombre  firs  arid  pines  of  the  Arctic  Circle. 

Our  descent  was  not  at  all  a  precipitous  one  at  first ;  but  after 
a  time  we  journeyed  along  quite  on  the  extreme  brink  and  edge 
of  the  mountains,  so  that  by  leaning  far  out  of  the  carriage,  one 
could  catch  the  sublimest  views  conceivable  of  all  that  intervened 
between  their  towering  summits  and  the  sea.  The  high  mount- 
ain chain  to  the  north  of  the  pass  turns  eastward,  and  is  continued 
on  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  in  parallel  lines  of  ridges,  on  the  heights 
of  which  the  traveler's  eye  looks  down ;  and  tfiat  eye  might  also 
see  confusedly,  beautiful,  wild,  and  solitary  dells  among  the  hills, 
and  the  sombre  black  region  of  lava  and  dwarfed  and  ragged  pines, 
that  he  is  leaving,  and  wilderness  after  wilderness  of  beauty  that 
he  is  approaching  nearer  and  nearer  to  ;  and  from  the  crest  of 
some  of  the  hills,  looking  to  the  south,  the  awful  majesty  of  the 
Mountain  of  the  Star  (Orizaba),  its  dazzling  brow  crowned  with 
unchangeable  resplendence,  till  it  seemed  to  have  a  brighter  day- 
light of  its  own.  Let  him  look  behind  him,  and  see  the  white 
frost  like  a  faint  sprinkling  from  the  snows  of  the  CofFre,  blanching 
the  funereal  foliage  of  the  solemn  branches  of  pine  and  the  beds  of 
gloomy  lava  ;  and  let  him  look  before  him,  and  mark  the  groves 
of  oranges,  the  corn-fields,  the  gardens  of  roses,  and  the  palm — 
daughter  of  the  sun — and  thrice  ten  thousand  flowering  and  bloom- 
ing trees  ! — There  laughs  a  leaping  brook,  lustrous,  fresh,  and 
clear,  as  if  all  the  roses  had  shed  all  their  diamond  dews  to  form 
its  fairy  stream,  and  it  rolled,  tinted  and  blushing  with  their  re- 
flections. And  here  a  forest  of  labyrinthine  bowers  makes  a  warm 
and  glowing  darkness  of  flower-shadows — zones  after  zones,  re- 
gions after  regions,  expanse  after  expanse,  are  stretching  at  his 
feet. 

Not  the  world,  but  many  worlds  seem  to  be  outspread  in  bound- 
less magnificence  before  us,  for  it  is  so  seldom  you  think  of  the 
single  Earth,  mingling  in  one  transcendent  unity — one  conjunction 
of  almost  antagonizing  elements  and  properties,  all  the  diversities, 

L 


242  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

all  the  conflicting  extremes  it  possesses,  that  when  you  behold 
them  thus  displayed  in  one  overpowering  consummate  burst  of 
triumph,  and  in  the  most  stupendous  and  imposing  array,  you 
seem  entering  on  a  new  state  of  existence,  on  a  fresh  stage  of 
being,  and  can  hardly  believe  that  these  wonders,  crowded,  heap- 
ed, precipitated,  and  concentrated — (each  separate  beauty,  each 
different  display  of  grandeur,  gaining  so  much  by  such  juxtaposi- 
tion— such  surprising  contrast,  that  each  seems  far  more  beauti- 
ful, and  far  more  majestic) — can  indeed  be  the  same  to  which  the 
eye,  or  the  tutored  thought,  or  the  imagination  has  been  accus- 
tomed. These  varieties,  so  accumulated  and  agglomerated,  seem 
to  be  new  varieties  ;  this  creation,  with  all  its  choicest  and  select- 
est  wonders  and  glories,  so  combined  and  united  to  each  other, 
seems  a  vision  of  many  creations,  and  the  boundary — which,  how- 
ever seems  no  boundary  to  all  this  gorgeous  magnificence,  but  only 
a  continuation,  along  which  the  dreaming,  straining  eye  appears 
to  travel  into  eternity — is  the  all-glorious  immeasurable  ocean ! 

With  such  a  spectacle  spread  out  before  him  does  the  traveler 
dash  downward — only  too  fast — to  beautiful  Xalapa.  Spring  and 
summer  seem  flying  on  wings  of  the  rainbow  and  the  rose  to  greet 
him ;  and  every  odoriferously-breathing  zephyr  is  an  avant-courier 
of  the  floral  delights  that  await  him.  Miles  before  you  are 
whirled  into  the  bowery,  flowery,  country-like  town  of  Xalapa,  you 
rejoice  in  the  far-floating  odors  of  its  crowding  orange  groves  ; 
and,  what  a  scene  enchants  you  :  Fields  of  living  emerald  and 
chrysoprase  ;  woods  bathed  in  the  beauty  of  myriads  of  blossoms 
(the  starry  orange  bowers  emulating  the  snows  of  glittering  Ori- 
zaba) ;  lovely  slopes,  the  most  graceful  picturesque  hollows ;  and, 
built  on  the  smiling  brows  of  sunny  hills,  lordly-looking  liacien- 
das,  with  their  white  walls  sparkling  like  spotless  alabaster ;  and 
tangled  mazes  of  vernal  delights,  and  startling  phenomena  of 
vegetation  ;  such  as  stems  that  seem  bearing  all  the  flowers  of 
one  zone  together,  so  crossed  and  mingled  are  the  blossomy  treas- 
ures— (indeed  in  some  places  it  seemed  like  solid  masses  of 
blooms).  And  what  fairy  glens  and  gorges,  and  glittering  ham- 
lets, and  sequestered  homes,  and  half-ruined  convents  glimmerinf 
through  many-colored  thickets,  and  vailing  streamers  of  a  thou- 
sand-tendrilled  blossoming  vines  ;  and  tortuous  paths,  and  silvery 
winding  rills,  and  soft  acclivities,  seemingly  intersecting  and  as  it 
were  overlapping  each  other,  as  if  to  conceal  some  more  precious 
treasures  of  mystic  beauty — if  that  were  possible  !  And  in  Rome 
parts,  afar  off  something  that  almost  looks  like  a  pageant  of  gor- 


HOTEL  DE  DILIGENCIAS.  243 

geous  sunset  clouds  fallen  to  earth,  and  melting  in  multitudinous 
splendor — it  is  but  a  variegated  heap  of  the  all  but  endless  growths 
of  Nature  in  these  regions,  billowing  over  some  rising  grounds, 
swelling  with  softest  undulations,  while  the  whole  resounds  with 
the  joyous  notes  of  singing  birds. 

But  all  this  time  I  have  forgotten  to  tell  of  the  beautiful  mirage 
we  saw  among  the  mountains  :  it  was  pointed  out  to  us  by  M. 

de .     It  was  hardly  possible  to  believe  it  was  not  lakes  of 

shining  water  we  saw  :  the  illusion  was  extraordinarily  perfect, 
and  some  in  the  carriage  obstinately  refused  to  believe  any  thing 
but  the  evidence  of  their  own  fallible  senses,  till  the  scene  gradu- 
ally changed,  partly  before  their  very  eyes,  sufficiently  to  convince 
them  of  their  error.  We  were  told  it  was  of  very  unusual  occur- 
rence in  those  parts. 

There  was  a  marvelous  appearance  also  of  some  inverted 
houses,  which  were  at  a  great  distance  in  reality :  and  besides 
that,  we  beheld,  before  we  left  the  mountain,  a  singular  phe- 
nomenon— an  immense  white  stratum  of  clouds,  spread  out  exactly 
like  a  vast  ocean  of  snow,  concealing,  for  a  short  time,  the  mag- 
nificent view  beneath.  This  vanished  as  the  sun  gained  power, 
having  made  its  appearance  during  the  morning  twilight. 

But  now  we  must  enter  the  charming  "  calles"  of  that  pearl  of 
cities,  Xalapa.  Again  we  admired  its  single-storied,  terraced,  and 
balconied  houses,  smothered  in  the  loveliest  of  gardens,  and  many 
of  them  quite  as  large  and  handsome  as  the  glazed-porcelain 
houses  of  Mexico. 

We  descended  the  steep  streets  to  the  Hotel  de  Diligencias, 
where  this  time  we  h^id  much  better  rooms  than  the  last ;  we  had 
a  very  pretty,  large,  and  airy  apartment,  decorated  with  a  pro- 
fusion of  gayly-painted  arabesques,  in  fresco,  and  opening  on  to  a 
broad  balcony  on  one  side,  and  on  another  to  a  large  wide  gallery 
communicating  with  a  beautiful  covered  sort  of  half  conservatory, 
half  corridor,  enchantingly  pretty,  adorned  with  plants,  and  from 
this  branches  the  large  balcony  that  runs  round  the  sides  of  the 
inner  walls  of  the  house,  overlooking  the  great  court-yard,  which 
balcony  was  rather  a  favorite  promenading  place  when  the  huge 
diligencias  were  heard  dashing  in  from  various  parts. 

Before  we  went  up-stairs  to  take  possession  of  our  quartos,  a 
very  pretty  little  fair-haired  boy  came  running  into  the  court-yard, 

in  great  haste.     It  was  the  little  son  of  M :  he  was  duly 

introduced  to  us,  and  appeared  to  be  a  charming  little  fellow ;  the 
day  was  beautiful,  but  cold ;  and  as  we  were  to  stay  at  Xalapa 


244  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

till  the  morrow,  owing  to  the  arrangements  of  the  diligencias,  we 

went  out  walking,  to  see  some  of  the  old  churches.  Mr.  C 

escorted  us. 

We  climbed  up  the  steep  street,  and  arrived  at  a  handsome- 
looking  church,  which  'wa$  said  to  be  beautiful  within,  and  to 
have  great  treasures  of  plata  (silver).  After  a  little  difficulty  we 
effected  an  entrance.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  dazzling  silver 
certainly :  but  my  attention  was  painfully  arrested  by  some  large 
wooden  figures  intended  to  represent  our  blessed  Saviour,  and 
which  were  truly  shocking ;  they  were  most  extravagantly  painted. 
We  afterward  walked  a  little  way  to  see  some  of  the  beautiful 
views  of  this  charming  place,  past  the  gardens,  with  their  wild 
profusion  of  clove-carnations,  roses,  jessamines,  and  orange  trees. 

As  we  strolled  on  we  heard  the  sweet  sounds  of  a  harp  suddenly 
struck  very  near  us.  We  were  just  passing  a  large,  handsome 
house,  and  without  intending  to  be  uncivil,  on  the  impulse  of  the 
moment  we  all  looked  into  the  large  lofty  ground-floor  room  from 
whose  enormous  open  but  iron-barred  windows  were  pouring  the 
echoing  strains  :  we  saw  a  black-haired  though  fair  senorita, 
apparently  just  taking  her  music  lesson  ;  for  a  grave  music-master- 
like  senor  was  standing  by  her,  and,  as  it  seemed  to  us,  marking 
the  time,  and  explaining  the  nature  of  the  aria. 

The  senorita,  having  looked  up,  caught  sight  of  us  immediately, 
and  blushing  deeply  remained  in  the  attitude,  and  wrapped  in  the 
silence  of  a  painted  St.  Cecilia,  suspended  in  mute  surprise.  It 
was  evident  that  the  good  Xalapenos  were  never  in  the  habit  of 
giving  way  to  such  indiscreet  habits  of  impertinent  curiosity ;  so 
reluctantly  we  passed  on,  and  soon  after  th§  melodious  strains  re- 
commenced. 

After  returning  to  the  hotel,  I  gave  a  commission  to  Mr.  C , 

to  find  me  a  sarap6,  such  as  are  worn  here.  A  mozo  brought  in 
a  goodly  number  for  me  to  choose  from.  Now  it  happened  there 
was  a  deep-blue  immense  American  blanket,  which  I  wanted  to 
get  rid  of,  and  as  I  had  brought  the  least  possible  money  with  me 
(for  not  wishing  to  enrich  the  coffers  of  the  robbers,  I  had  the  rest 
by  bills  on  Vera  Cruz),  it  was  decided  it  was  better  to  throw  that 
blanket  into  the  bargain  (since  after  Perote's  chilly  regions  it  was 
no  longer  needed),  and  the  wonderful  bewilderment  of  the  poor 
mozo,  at  this  proposition,  was  highly  diverting.  He  said  in 
piteous  accents,  his  master  had  told  him  exactly  what  to  do  :  and 
as  the  master  had,  naturally  enough,  not  contemplated  the  circum- 
stance that  had  by  chance  arisen,  he  had  not  tutored  the  mozo  on 


SARAPE  AND  AMERICAN  BLANKET.  246 

this  particular  contingency ;  so  that  he  seemed  at  his  wit's  end  to 
know  what  to  answer. 

"  Well,"  said  I,  in  my  choicest  Spanish,  "  go  and  ask  your 
master  ;  then  you  will  be  sure  to  be  right." 

"  But  how  can  I  go  ?"  said  he,  "  till  I  know  what  the  lady  has 
bought?"  ,  «  •  •* 

"  I  shall  buy  this  one,  if  your  master  will  let  me  have  it  for — " 
(I  forget  the  sum) — "  and  take  this  blue  one — and  you  can  leave 
this  and  take  the  rest." 

"  Oh,  no  !  HO  es  posible." 

Well,  then,  he  might  take  them  all  (mine  included)  to  his  mas- 
ter, and  bring  back  that  one,  and  I  could  then  pay  for  it. 

"  No,  no,  that  would  not  do  :  '  Dispense  V.  Senorita,'  that  is 
quite  out  of  the  question." 

"But  why?"  and  here  he  talked  so  fast,  and  as  it  seemed  to 
me  in  such  a  curious  patois,  that  I  could  not  quite  follow  him ; 
but  yet  it  appeared  to  me  he  wished  to  leave  the  chosen  one. 
We  offered  all  sorts  of  arrangements,  but  nothing  would  do.  At 

last  Mr.  C was  called  in  to  try  to  clear  up  the  matter  ;  he 

could  not,  and  Senior  Novarro  was  at  last  applied  to — whom,  by 
the  way,  we  found  here  just  where  we  had  left  him.  He  soon 
made  all  clear ;  he  heard  the  man's  story  (who  spoke  in  the  most 
impetuously  rapid  way,  so  that  none  but  a  native  could  have  well 
understood  him),  and  he  laughed  much,  and  said  that  stupid  man 
declared  he  did  not  know  for  his  life  what  to  do. 

"For,"  said  he,  "I  can  not  arrange  any  price  for  the  blue 
blanket,  for  my  master  gave  me  no  directions  about  it.  I  can  not 
leave  the  sarapes  here  to  go  and  ask  him,  because  they  are  not 
paid  for,  and  if  one  was  paid  for  in  full  and  I  left  it,  I  can  not 
take  the  rest  with  the  blue  blanket,  to  show,  because  the  lady  will 
have  no  security  for  my  return,  and  I  can  not  take — " 

But  here  Senior  Novarro  interrupted  him,  and  said  that  he  was 
sure  the  lady  wouldn't  mind,  and  then  he  explained  the  difficulty. 
The  shopman  and  the  sarapes  were  sent  off',  and  he  soon  returned, 
saying  what  his  master  would  allow,  and  the  mighty  bargain  was 
speedily  and  satisfactorily  closed  for  all  parties. 

Soon  after,  a  diligence  came  thundering  down  the  street,  and 
we  repaired  to  the  great  balcony  to  see  the  new  arrivals. 

A  huge  diligence,  full  of  friars  and  nuns,  made  its  appearance  ; 
and  Senor  Novarro  told  me  the  enormous  number  of  these  gentry 
that  had  lately  arrived,  filling  every  public  conveyance,  had  been 
the  cause  of  his  detention  at  Xalapa,  for  he  could  not  get  a  single 


246  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

place.  I  asked  him  to  what  he  attributed  this  immense  influx  of 
padres  and  nuns  from  Spain,  and  whether  he  thought  it  was  owing 
to  the  alarm  occasioned  by  the  late  spread  of  revolutionary  doc- 
trines. He  had  heard  no  cause  assigned,  but  believed  such  was 
the  case.  It  is  certainly  a  curious  fact,  that,  though  we  never 
traveled  with  any  in  the  stage  coaches  ourselves,  we  had  seen 
crowds  of  diligences  constantly  crammed  with  these  reverend  emi- 
grants. 

We  left  Xalapa  very  early  the  next  morning,  after  a  fruitless 

search  for  some  keys  which  H lost  a  little  while  before  we 

had  to  start.  The  sleepy  mucliacha  gave  us  a  candle  with  a  snuff 
of  alarming  length,  and  I  asked  for  despabiladeras,  snuffers,  which 
takes  a  certain  time  to  pronounce,  and  by  the  time  the  said  despa- 
biladeras were  found  (which  seemed  to  have  gone  on  a  party  of 
pleasure  for  the  day,  with  the  keys),  it  was  already  the  time  to 
start,  and  after  we  had  a  very  hurried  chase — quite  a  quick  thing, 
but  we  could  not  catch  our  keys — and  put  on  our  sombreros  (which 
ladies'  bonnets  are  called,  as  well  as  gentlemen's  hats),  it  was 
rather  late,  and  we  had  some  reason  to  think  the  American  coach- 
man was  somewhat  indignant  at  the  delay,  though  he  amiably 
waited  for  us.  Cerro  Gordo's  varrancas  pefhaps  put  him  in  good- 
humor  again. 

When  we  arrived  at  Vera  Cruz,  we  found  the  steamer  had  not 
arrived.  She  was  very  much  after  her  time.  Unluckily  for  us, 
we  found  the  Casa  de  Diligencias  quite  full,  and  were  obliged  to 
put  up  at  another  hotel  (kept  by  two  Frenchmen),  which  was  not 
nearly  so  good.  I  stupidly  forgot  to  send  M.  Surutuza's  letter, 
obligingly  desiring  that  rooms  should  be  found  for  us,  and  every 
attention  paid  us ;  and,  indeed,  without  that,  Mr.  Bell  sent  word 
soon  after  we  were  established  in  this  hotel,  that  he  would  contrive 
to  give  us  apartments ;  but  as  the  steamer  was  momentarily  ex- 
pected, and  as  the  proprietors  of  this  meson  try  to  make  us  as 
comfortable  as  they  can,  I  did  not  avail  myself  of  his  obliging 
proposition. 

Among  other  people  whom  we  recognized  as  having  either 
formed  part  of  our  compagnons  de  voyage,  on  board  the  United 
States  steamer  "  Walker,"  or  as  having  been  here  before,  was 

Mr.  ,  who  had  come  over  in  the  <:  Walker,"  for  the  purpose 

of  bringing  back  from  Mexico  the  body  of  his  brother  (who  had 
died  there  from  the  effects  of  wounds  received  during  the  Mexican 
war),  and  conveying  it  to  Indiana  for  interment. 

There  was  an  objection  to  the  corpse  being  taken  on  board  the 


ARRIVAL  AT  HAVANA  247 

"  Walker,"  I  believe  :  at  any  rate  Mr.  was  still  at  Vera 

Cruz,  not  having  yet  accomplished  his  melancholy  mission,  but 
is  about  to  sail,  I  think,  in  a  packet  ship.  He  is  English  by  birth, 
but  has  been  so  long  settled  in  the  United  States,  that  he  has  be- 
come quite  an  American,  even  in  appearance. 

This  reminds  me  of  a  curious  fact  I  have  heard  stated,  namely, 
that  Dr.  Gutzlaf^  who  has  been  so  long  a  missionary  to  China, 
and  is  lately  returned,  has  contracted  quite  a  Chinese  cast  of  feat- 
ures, as  well  as  a  Celestial  gait,  countenance,  and  manners.  The 
latter  one  can  easily  imagine,  the  former  seerns  somewhat  of  a 
physiological  curiosity. 

The  British  Consul  has  just  been  to  see  me,  and  tells  me  they 
have  a  great  deal  of  specie  arrived  to  go  by  the  steamer,  and  an. 
immense  mail.  He  says  the  steamer  will  probably  arrive  to-night, 
and  he  and  his  son  must  sit  up  all  night  to  get  the  letters  and 
papers  in  readiness  ibr  her.  We  almost  live  upon  the  balcony, 
for  the  heat  inside  the  room  is  nearly  insupportable.  Good  news ! 
The  English  steamer  "  Thames"  has  just  made  her  appearance. 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 

Arrival  at  Havana — Passengers  on  Board  the  "  Thames" — Affecting  Story 
of  an  American  Merchant's  unforeseen  Calamity — An  American  Grinlin 
Gibbous — The  enterprising  political  Organ-cri ruler — First  Glimpse  of 
Havana — The  Harbor — The  Morro  Castle  and  the  Puntal — The  Cabanas 
— The  City  of  Havana — Volantes — The  Paseo — Ladies  of  Havana — Their 
Dress — The  Gentlemen — Usages  of  Gallantry  at  Havana — The  Military 
— Reviews  and  Music — Anxiety  of  Spain  to  retain  Cuba — Cathedral  of 
Havana — The  Ashes  of  Columbus — His  Bust — How  his  Ashes  have  been 
removed  from  Place  to  Place — Worshipers  in  the  Cathedral — The  Bish- 
op's Garden — Rare  and  beautiful  Trees  and  Flowers — Hurricanes  at 
Havana — Volantes  in  universal  Use — Where  bestowed  sometimes — Ha- 
vana Houses — How  furnished — Social  Customs  in  Havana — Fruits. 

WE  arrived  here  (at  the  Havana)  after  a  ten  or  eleven  days' 
voyage — three  days,  however,  of  which  we  were  detained  at  Tam- 
pico ;  ibr  the  sea  ran  so  high,  the  little  steamboat  that  was  to 
bring  out  the  specie  could  not  get  over  the  bar  sooner.  The  bar 
was  cross,  they  said  ! 

We  found  the  "  Thames"  a  charming  ship  ;  so  clean,  and  cool, 
and  large — and  we  had  several  very  agreeable  passengers.  Among 


248  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

them  were  Lord  M.  Kerr  and  Mr.  Bayard  Taylor — the  author 
of  some  beautiful  poetical  pieces,  and  of  a  work  entitled  "  Views 
A-foot."  He  performed  a  pedestrian  tour  nearly  all  over  Europe. 
He  was  then  returning  from  California,  and  is,  I  believe,  on  the 
eve  of  publishing  a  work — already  prepared  for  the  press — relating 
to  that  country,  which,  I  should  think,  would  be  exceedingly  in- 
teresting. He  is  a  very  gentlemanlike  young  man,  and  appears 
full  of  intelligence  and  information. 

Mr.  Hill,  an  English  gentleman  just  returned  from  a  lengthen- 
ed tour,  was  also  on  board.  He  had  been  living  between  two  and 
three  years  in  Russia  and  Siberia  (the  last  not  involuntary!), 
having  latterly  come  from  South  America  and  Polynesia.  He 
had  sailed  from  Kamtschatka,  in  a  Russian  merchant  ship,  and 
while  in  South  America,  had  made  several  excursions  inland.  His 
account  of  the  poorer  classes  in  Siberia,  (where  the  peasants  are 
not  serfs),  made  one  think  they  must  form  almost  the  happiest  and 
most  flourishing  peasantry  in  the  world.  It  appears  they  liave  not 
only  plenty  to  boil  in  the  pot,  but  they  have  the  pot  boiling  almost 
all  day  long  :  in  short,  plenty  of  fuel,  and  plenty  of  food  and  cloth- 
ing. Very  unlike  the  uoor  Calif ornians  of  olden  days.  It  is  probably 
known  to  many  that  on  that  very  soil,  now  found  to  be  teeming 
with  the  golden  treasures  of  earth,  the  former  inhabitants,  in  a 
state  of  the  most  abject  poverty,  were  wont  to  subsist  on  grass- 
hoppers ! 

We  stopped  at  Mobile  point,  on  our  way  hither,  to  land  and 
receive  passengers  and  specie,  and  came-to  among  the  crowded 
shipping  at  the  anchorage  there  ;  but,  in  consequence  of  our  long 
delay  at  Tampico,  the  "  Thames"  staid  as  short  a  time  as  possible, 
and  I  had  not  an  opportunity  of  seeing  my  dear  friend  Madame 

L.  V .  Mr.  Bayard  Taylor,  who  landed  there,  was  good 

enough  to  take  her  a  note  from  me. 

There  was  a  very  melancholy  circumstance  connected  with  our 

brief  stay  at  Mobile.  Mr. ,  an  American  merchant,  who  had 

been  to  Mexico  on  business,  expected  to  receive  at  Mobile,  letters 
from  his  wife,  to  whom  he  had  written  from  Mexico  to  say  he 
should  go  by  way  of  the  Havana  to  New  York,  on  such  a  day,  by 
one  of  the  American  steamers  (they  are  generally  very  punctual), 
and  as  they  ordinarily  arrive  in  the  evening,  he  begged  her  to  have 
tea  ready  lor  him. 

He  appeared  a  very  pleasant,  amiable  person,  and  was  extreme- 
ly popular  in  the  ship.  I  had  not  made  his  acquaintance ;  but 
one  could  not  but  remark  his  liveliness  of  manner  and  flow  of 


AFFECTING  STORY.  249 

amusing  conversation.  .  He  was  in  the  highest  spirits  that  morn- 
ing— poor  man  !  compassionating  Mr.  Taylor  for  not  having  to 
look  forward  "  to  tea  prepared  ready  for  him,"  and  evidently  full 
of  joy  and  happiness. 

The  last  time  I  saw  him,  he  was  leaning  over  the  rail  of  the 
steamer,  most  merrily  talking  and  laughing  with  those  passengers, 
who  were  transferred  to  a  small  high-pressure  freight-boat,  that 
was  to  take  them  to  Mobile  (as  soon  as  the  fog  would  graciously 

permit) — Mr.  Taylor,  Mr.  C ,  &c.  We  soon  after  continued 

on  our  course,  and  I  went  down  to  the  cabin  to  read  a  little  before 
dinner,  which  was  very  shortly  afterward  ready.  I  was  rather 
surprised  not  to  see  the  captain  in  his  usual  place,  and  soon  every 
body  was  shocked  to  learn  the  cause  of  his  absence. 

He  had  to  break  to  poor  Mr.  ,  the  news  of  his  young  and 

lovely  wife's  almost  sudden  death  !  The  electric  telegraph  had 
brought  rapidly  succeeding  accounts,  respecting  her  from  New 
York,  the  first  announcing  her  sudden  and  dangerous  illness,  the 
second  to  say  she  was  worse,  and  the  third  to  announce  her  death. 
This  sad  news  was  only  brought  on  board  a  little  before  we  start- 
ed, and  Captain  A was  charged  with  the  painful  office  of 

breaking  the  heart-racking  tidings.  As  the  news  of  the  death  and 
illness"  were  brought  at  the  same  time,  there  had  been  no  previous 
preparation,  and  the  captain  vainly  attempted  at  first  to  disguise 
the  fatal  character  of  the  announcement  he  had  to  make.  His 
trembling  voice,  and  tell-tale  looks  betrayed  him,  and  the  unfortu- 
nate bereaved  husband  divined  at  once  the  whcle  extent  of  his 
misfortune. 

Captain  A told  me,  afterward,  the  scene  was  a  most  try- 
ing and  terrible  one.  The  wretched  man  stood  as  if  petrified  with 
horror,  his  eyes  glaring  and  glazed,  and  fixed  as  in  a  trance. 
After  he  had  stood  rooted  to  the  spot  for  some  time  in  agonized 
silence,  he  repeated  the  word  "  dead"  in  the  deep,  hollow  voice  of 
the  most  profound  despair ;  and  it  was  the  only  word  he  uttered, 
or  sign  of  life  he  showed,  during  the  remainder  of  that  day.  Nor 
did  he  move  his  eyes,  that  constantly  were  fixed,  with  a  wild, 
dreadful  stare,  on  vacancy. 

The  captain  said  it  was  a  most  piteous  sight  to  see,  and  he 
began  to  be  really  alarmed  for  his  reason,  when  it  became  appa- 
rent that  nothing  could  rouse  him,  and  he  still  repeated,  as  if  me- 
chanically, at  intervals,  "  dead  !  dead  !"  in  the  same  tone  of  frozen 
horror.  He  was  not  left  alone  for  a  single  moment,  day  or  night, 
so  alarming  did  his  state  appear. 


250  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

This  sad  and  utterly-unexpected  misfortune  cast  quite  a  gloom 
over  the  ship.  Poor  man  !  he  appeared  to  be  a  very  devoted  hus- 
band, and  Mr. said  he  had  seen  a  beautiful  miniature  of  the 

deceased  wife,  which  the  unhappy  man  had  always  carried  about 
with  him,  and  that  it  was  the  portrait  of  a  very  lovely  person  in- 
deed. But  I  will  not  dwell  longer  on  such  a  melancholy  therne. 

There  was  on  board  a  very  ingenious  American — I  think,  but  arn 
not  quite  sure,  a  New  Englander — (it  is  the  New  Englanders  that 
the  Americans  themselves  call  "  Yankees"),  who  made,  during  the 
voyage,  out  of  a  common  bit  of  wood,  merely  with  his  pen-knife, 
the  most  lovely  and  delicate  little  wooden  chains  imaginable,  and 
other  curiosities  requiring  the  greatest  skill  and  nicety  of  handling. 

There  was  among  the  deck  passengers  an  enterprising  organ- 
grinder,  who  had  resolved  on  being  the  pioneer  of  his  profession  in 
Mexico,  and  who  expected  to  "  Oh  !  Susanna-ize"  and  "  Yankee- 
doodle-ize"  the  whole  country.  His  speculation  failed  ;  and  I  was 
told  he  complained  bitterly  of  the  lamentable  want  of  love  for 
street  music  in  the  Mexicans,  to  which  lack,  on  their  part,  he 
seemed  to  attribute  the  generally  revolutionary  state  of  the  coun- 
try, and  their  backwardness  in  the  art  of  self-government.  A 
deliciously  hideous  monkey  accompanied  him  ;  but  whether  his 
diverting  tricks — for  he  had  of  course,  received  a  distinguished 
education — were  equally  unappreciated,  I  know  not  ;  or  whether, 
if  so,  the  musical  speculator  thought  this  indifference  also  helped 
to  explain  many  defects  in  the  working  of  the  Mexican  constitu- 
tion, I  can  not  pretend  to  say. 

We  had  a  rapid  run  from  Mobile  to  this  place,  and  arrived  here 
about  two  hours  after  noon,  in  the  most  brilliant  and  beautiful 
weather  imaginable.  Every  body  was  on  the  tiptoe  of  expecta- 
tion when  we  passed  the  handsome  lighthouse  (La  Farola)  with 
General  O'Donnel's  name  (under  whose  administration  it  was 
built),  in  immense  characters  on  it. 

The  first  glimpse  of  the  Havana,  from  the  entrance  to  the  har- 
bor, is  remarkably  picturesque,  beautiful,  and  striking.  The  co- 
lossal palm-trees  (the  magnificent  "  Palma  real")  that  tower  ma- 
jestically in  the  back-ground  on  the  hills  (seeming  to  gaze  down 
like  a  guard  of  giants  over  the  splendid  city)  form  a  glorious  ver- 
dant sort  of  outer  and  partial  frame-work  for  it,  while  the  eye 
rests  with  delight  on  the  nearer  objects,  especially  on  the  crowded 
and  beauteous  harbor,  so  covered  with  shipping  from  every  part 
of  the  civilized  world,  with  the  flags  of  every  nation  streaming  on 
the  soft  breeze,  and  reflected  on  its  calm  and  silvery  waters. 


THE  MORRO  CASTLE.  251 

The  Morro  Castle  is  exceedingly  striking  and  imposing.  This 
strong  and  formidable  fortress  is  built  on  the  solid  rock,  and  almost 
appears  to  form  a  part  of  it,  so  steadfast  and  enduring  seem  its 
massive  towers  and  walls  and  battlements;  looking  stern  and  gloomy 
as  an  old  northern  feudal  fortress,  notwithstanding  a  few  light, 
plumy  cocoa-nut  palms  cast  their  delicate  shadows  on  the  grass- 
covered  banks  near  the  stately  castle. 

The  harbor  is  one  of  the  very  finest  in  the  world,  sufficiently 
deep  for  the  largest  vessels,  and  capacious  enough  to  accommodate 
a  fleet  of  a  thousand  ships,  or  more.  There  is  a  narrow  entrance 
to  this  splendid  harbor  (from  whose  magnificence  the  city  received 
the  name  of  "La  Havana" — as  the  harbor,  par  excellence,  I  believe 
— and  yet  I  think  the  present  Spanish  word  for  harbor  and  haven 
is  "puerto").  This  entrance,  indeed,  is  so  narrow  that  only  a 
single  ship  can  enter  at  once,  and  it  is  fortified  the  whole  length 
with  strong  works,  platforms,  and  artillery.  Opposite  to  the  Morro 
Castle  there  is  another  fort,  called  the  Puntal.  This  is  connected 
with  the  city  to  the  north.  The  Morro  is  built  in  a  triangular 
form  :  it  is  fortified  strongly  with  bastions,  and  mounted  with  many 
pieces  of  cannon,  which  are  almost  djleur  cVcau.  The  city  itself 
stands  on  the  western  side  of  its  noble  harbor,  and  is  extensively 
surrounded  by  ramparts,  bastions,  and  trenches.  In  addition  to 
the  fortifications  already  enumerated,  it  is  surmounted  with  works, 
which  are  all  of  them  supplied  with  a  vast  profusion  of  artillery. 
I  hear  that  they  have  been  lately  strengthening  and  improving  the 
various  formidable  fortifications,  in  anticipation  of  a  threatened 
visit  from  the  Americans.  The  large  fortress,  called  the  Cabanas, 
stands  near  the  Morro  Castle,  and  covers  a  great  deal  of  ground ; 
numbers  of  soldiers  were  seen  clambering  up,  or  half-sliding  down 
its  steep  sides. 

We  found  the  British  steamer,  bound  for  Jamaica,  waiting  for 
the  "Thames."  It  was  nearly  evening  before  we  landed,  and 
found  ourselves  in  a  very  comfortable  American  hotel,  kept  t>y 
Mr.  Fulton,  of  New  Orleans.  We  found  Mr.  Kennedy,  who  is 
now  acting  as  consul  in  the  absence  of  Mr.  Crawford,  obligingly 
waiting  to  see  us.  He  told  us  Lord  Durham  was  here,  arid  very 
ill,  having  caught  a  fever  at  Jamaica  ;  but  Havana  itself  appears 
to  be  quite  healthy  just  now.  The  heat,  however,  is  very  great 
and  oppressive,  though  we  are  in  one  of  the  coolest  and  freshest 
houses  within  the  city.  We  are  very  near  the  entrance  to  the 
harbor,  and  constantly  a  delightful  refreshing  breeze  blows  on  our 
broad  balcony,  and  through  the  enormous  window-gates  that  open 


252  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

upon  it.     It  is  a  pretty  and  interesting  sight  to  watch  the  ships 
almost  constantly  entering  or  leaving  the  harhor. 

I  shall  stay  here  a  little  while,  I  think,  and  see  something  of 
the  Havana,  in  case  any  thing  should  prevent  my  return  here 
after  we  have  left  our  cards  with  the  Pacific.  It  is  an  extraor- 
dinarily gay-looking  town.  Of  course  in  the  heat  of  the  day  no 
one  thinks  of  stirring  out  who  can  help  it.  But  when  it  begins  to 
be  cool,  the  city  seems  almost  to  shake  with  an  earthquake  of  car- 
riages, going  in  different  directions,  whose  fair  occupants  are  visit- 
paying,  shopping,  and  so  forth,  usually  ending  with  the  paseo  ;  and 
beautiful  and  fairy-like  these  carriages  mostly  are.  They  are  called 
volantes,  and  are  generally  drawn  by  mules,  driven  by  a  postillion 
in  some  splendid  livery. 

We  went  out  the  other  day,  and  I  went  a  little  way  into  the 
country — a  very  pretty  drive,  indeed.  It  was  along  a  broad  smooth 
road  (what  a  luxury  to  us,  after  the  road  to  Mexico  !),  bordered 
with  a  lovely  hedge  of  roses  and  flowering  pomegranates  in  their 
greatest  beauty.  We  then  went  to  the  paseo,  where  carriages — 
multitudinous  as  musquitoes  in  Havana — swarmed  in  double  lines, 
and  all  seemed  like  a  fairy  tale  in  action.  Those  graceful,  aerial- 
looking,  gayly-painted  open  volantes,  like  cars  fit  for  Queen  Mab, 
and  the  ethereal-seeming  beings  within,  crowned  •with  flowers, 
with  no  other  covering  on  their  gracious  heads  than  these  delicate 
blossoms,  and  their  own  massive  braids  of  superb  black  hair — for 
very  seldom  did  they  even  wear  the  mantilla,  and  when  they  did, 
its  exquisitely-disposed  folds  seemed  little  else  than  the  light  shadow 
cast  by  those  abundant  waves  of  silky  sable  locks — all  was  enchant- 
ment. 

How  gracefully  waved  their  fans,  with  which  they  fluttered 
light  pretty  salutations  to  each  other ! — those  glistening  feathery 
fans,  like  the  wings  of  sylphides  :  and  their  dresses ! — surely  Arachne 
herself  must  have  spun  them,  and  Iris  colored  them  !  I  will  try 
and  paint,  in  words,  three  of  these  fair  daughters  of  Cuba,  as  they 
recline  in  their  luxurious  volantes.  One  is  in  a  dress  of  the  most 
sky-like  azure ;  another  in  a  diaphanous  dreamy  sort  of  robe,  of 
the  most  gossamer  texture,  and  of  the  softest  yet  brightest  tint  of 
rose-color ;  and  the  third  (who  sits  forward  in  the  middle)  is  in 
spotless  lily  white:  and  these  dresses  float  light  and  full  as  very 
clouds  about  them.  They  are  all  decolletee,  and  with  very  short 
sleeves,  and  all  are  snow-pale,  with  statuesque  features  and  mag- 
nificent hair. 

There  seem  to  be  hundreds  and  thousands  of  these  carriages, 


USAGES  OF  GALLAN.TRY  AT  HAVANA.  253 

with  equally  fair  and  fairy-like  damosels  within,  and  clad  in  every 
hue  of  the  rainbow — lilac,  emerald-green,  the  faintest  strawy-yellow 
(that  admirably  suits  with  their  generally  jet-black  locks),  and 
various  delicate  tints  and  shades  of  all  colors.  The  carriages 
themselves  look  like  enormous  butterflies  glittering  in  the  rays  of 
the  descending  sun,  with  their  innumerable,  bright,  varied  colors. 

Then,  how  beautiful  are  the  long  double  rows  of  trees  on  either 
side  of  the  paseo,  and  the  flowers,  and  the  exquisite  sky  above,  and 
the  splendid  fountains,  falling  into  sculptured  marble  basins ;  and 
how  charming  is  the  delicious  temperature,  and  the  soft  breeze  from 
the  neighboring  sea  ! 

You  do  not  see  here,  as  in  Mexico,  hundreds  of  superbly-mounted 
caballeros,  making  their  steeds  champ,  and  prance,  and  caracolear, 
till  their  weighty  silver  ornaments  flash  like  lightning  on  the  eye. 
Here  the  gentlemen  are  generally  pedestrian  promenaders,  if  they 
are  not  lounging,  stretched  out  in  their  luxurious  volantes  them- 
selves. They  walk  leisurely  and  gently  along,  smoking  the  fragrant 
weed,  and  gazing  at  the  fair  Habaneras  who  are  passing  in  their 
fairy  coracles  on  wheels ;  and  they  tell  me  it  is  the  fashion  here, 
when  a  gallant  senor  sees  some  particularly  lovely  young  dona,  for 
him  to  exclaim — "  How  beautiful — how  lovely !"  and  for  her  to 
reply,  with  a  slight  gracious  inclination  of  her  little  stag-like  head 
— "  Gracias,  caballero."  I  was  not  a  little  surprised,  at  first,  at 
the  answer  the  ladies  make  to  the  universally-employed  salutation 
— "  A  los  pies  de  V.  senorita  !"  "  Besos  los  manos  de  V.  cabal- 
lero !"  (I  am  at  your  feet,  madarn ! — I  kiss  your  hands,  sir !). 
But  the  dignified  gentleness  with  which  they  say  it,  seemed  to  take 
off  from  the  too  great  condescension  apparently  expressed.  It  was 
as  superbly  gracious  as  the  bending  of  a  crowned  head  in  acknowl- 
edgment of  a  subject's  homage. 

There  seems  a  great  deal  of  alarm  just  now  about  the  expected 
American  invasion.  It  is  rumored — but  very  likely  falsely — that 
some  of  the  troops  are  disaffected  ;  and  I  am  told  that  most  of  the 
troops  sent  here  are  from  the  dregs  of  the  population  in  Spain,  con- 
victs and  marauders  of  all  kinds.  The  cavalry,  however,  are  said 
to  be  a  very  fine  body  of  men  :  as  far  as  outward  appearance  goes, 
they  all  would  seem  to  be  so.  The  foot  soldiers  strike  me  as 
being  much  taller  than  our  infantry  regiments,  and  are  exceed- 
ingly clean-looking  and  well-dressed. 

There  are  reviews  going  on  almost  every  day  now,  and  military 
music  abounds  in  Havana :  it  is  rare  not  to  hear  the  roll  of  drums 
and  the  flourish  of  trumpets.  A  military  band  plays  every 


254  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA.  4 

evening  on  the  Grand  Plaza.  The  best  I  have  heard  here  is, 
I  think,  the  Artillery  band  ;  but  they  all  are  good. 

They  have  a  large  number  of  troops  already  in  Cuba,  and  I 
believe  they  expect  more  very  shortly.  Rumors  of  every  kind  are 
rile,  but  one  can  place  no  faith  in  any  of  them.  I  believe  only 
that  Spain  is  most  sincerely  desirous  of  retaining  this  magnificent 
possession  of  hers — and  well  she  may  be.  Not  only  its  almost 
unequaled  fertility  and  natural  advantages,  but  its  position,  renders 
it  a  place  of  the  very  highest  commercial  and  political  importance. 
Its  situation,  commanding  the  entrance  to  the  Mexican  Gulf,  and 
also  the  communication  between  North  and  South  America,  has 
caused  it  to  be  named  "  The  Queen  of  the  Antilles,"  "  The  Senti- 
nel of  the  Mississippi,"  "The  Key  of  the  Gulf;"  and  its  great 
beauty  and  luxuriance  have  acquired  for  it  the  denomination  of 
"  The  gem  of  the  American  Seas."  "  The  Beautiful  Antille," 
"  The  Pearl  of  the  Islands,"  and  other  admiring  designations. 

When  we  first  arrived  here,  how  natural  seemed  the  loving 
exclamations  and  remarks  of  returning  "  Habaneros,"  who,  bend- 
ing over  the  guards  of  the  steamer,  uttered  ejaculatory  expressions 
of  delight  as  we  neared  the  enchanting  shores  : — "O!  que  escenas 
tan  hermosas.  El  cielo  sin  nubes,  y  la  mar  tan  serena,  y  el  sol 
tan  brilliante."  "  Si !  y  las  florestas  tan  deliciosas  !  Y  esa  ver- 
dura  eterna  de  la  hermosissima  isla."  "Mira  V.  que  multitud  de 
barcos,  bergantines  y  goletas  y  fregatas  y  paquetes  y — hombre, 
que  multitud  !"  "  Si !  y  mil  banderas  y  banderolas  de  variados 
colores  y  de  todas  las  naciones  !  Y  que  vista  tan  hermosa  ofrece 
la  ciudad  desde  el  puerto.  Mire  V.!  a  fe  mia,  no  se  ha  visto  cosa 
mas  bella  !"  and  so  on. 

We  have  been  to  see  the  cathedral  here,  which  is  extremely 
interesting,  from  being  the  burial-place  of  Columbus.  It  is  not 
as  magnificent  as  the  cathedral  in  Mexico,  but  it  is  a  noble  build- 
ing. On  the  right  side  of  the  grand  altar  is  an  urn,  containing 
those  precious  ashes  :  it  is  inclosed  in  the  wall.  A  fine  basso- 
relievo  is  placed  before  it,  of  the  bust  of  that  mighty  Discoverer. 
This  bust  is  the  size  of  life;  and  under  it  is  read  the  following 
inscription  : — "  O  restos  e  imagen  del  grande  Colon,  mil  siglos 
durad  guardados  en  la  urna.  Y  en  la  remembrancia  de  nuestra 
nacion."  There  is  a  small,  but  very  interesting  and  beautiful 
painting  opposite  to  the  tomb,  which  is  said  to  represent  the  Pope 
and  the  Cardinals  of  that  day,  celebrating  High  mass  previous  to 
the  departure  of  Columbus  from  the  shores  of  Spain,  on  his  first 
adventurous  and  momentous  expedition  in  his  humble  "caraval." 


FOURTH  FUNERAL  OF  COLUMBUS.         255 

.Columbus  has  not  had  as  much  rest  even  in  the  grave  as  falls 
to  the  lot  of  most  mortals ;  for  his  relics  have  been  moved  from 
tomb  to  tomb.  He  died  in  Valladolid,  in  Spain,  in  the  year  1506, 
and  a  tomb  was  there  erected  to  his  memory,  and  inscribed  thus : 
— "A  Castillo  y  a  Leon  Nuevo  Mundo -dio  Colon"  (in  Spanish 
he  is  called  "  Cristoval  Colon").  The  place  in  which  the  body 
was  deposited  was  the  Convent  of  San  Francisco,  in  Valladolid, 
and  the  funeral  ceremonies  were  celebrated  with  great  pomp  in 
the  parochial  church  of  Santa  Maria  de  la  Antigua  ;  but  in  1513, 
his  remains  were  removed  to  the  convent  of  Las  Cuevas,  of  the 
Carthusians,  at  Seville,  and  they  were  deposited  in  the  chapel  of 
Santa  Christo.  It  was  in  the  year  1536  they  were  transported  to 
Hispaniola,  and  they  were  there  inhumed  near  the  grand  altar  of 
the  cathedral  of  the  capital  city  of  San  Domingo;  but  they  were 
not  destined  to  repose  there  in  uninterrupted  peace.  After  His- 
paniola was  ceded  to  France  in  1795,  the  Spanish  government 
came  to  the  resolution  of  carrying  off  these  venerable  relics  to  the 
Island  of  Cuba ;  nor  can  one  feel  surprise  at  such  a  determination 
when  reflecting  on  all  that  Spain  owed  and  still  owes  to  that 
wonderful  man.  They  may  well  feel  proud  of  these  precious 
relics,  connected — as  Washington  Irving  says,  in  his  highly  inter- 
esting "Life  of  Columbus" — "with  the  most  glorious  epoch  of 
Spanish  history." 

Let  me  transcribe  a  little  of  his  impressive  account : — "Accord- 
ingly, on  the  20th  of  December  1795,  in  the  presence  of  an  august 
assemblage  of  the  dignitaries  of  the  Church,  and  the  civil  and 
military  officers,  the  vault  was  opened  beside  the  high  altar  of  the 
cathedral :  within  were  found  the  fragments  of  a  leaden  coffin,  a 
number  of  bones,  arid  a  quantity  of  mould,  evidently  the  remains 
of  a  human  body.  These  were  carefully  collected  and  put  into  a 
case  of  gilded  lead,  secured  by  an  iron  lock.  The  case  was  en- 
closed in  a  coffin  covered  with  black  velvet,  and  the  whole  placed 
in  a  temporary  mausoleum.  On  the  following  day  there  was 
another  grand  convocation  at  the  cathedral.  The  vigils  and 
masses  for  the  dead  were  chanted,  and  a  funeral  sermon  was 
preached  by  the  archbishop.  After  these  solemn  ceremonials  in 
the  cathedral,  the  coffin  was  transported  to  the  ship,  attended  by 
a  grand  civil,  religious,  and  military  procession.  The  banners 
were  covered  with  crape.  There  were  chants,  and  responses,  and 
discharges  of  artillery,  and  the  most  distinguished  persons  of  the 
several  orders  took  turns  to  support  the  coffin. 

"The  reception  of  the  body  at  Havana  was  equally  august. 


256  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

There  was  a  splendid  procession  of  boats  to  conduct  it  from  the 
ship  to  the  shore.  On  passing  the  vessels  of  war  in  the  harbor, 
they  all  paid  the  honors  due  to  an  admiral  and  captain-general  of 
the  navy.  On  arriving  at  the  mole,  the  remains  were  met  by  the 
governor  of  the  island,  accompanied  by  the  generals  of  the  military 
staff.  They  were  then  conveyed,  in  the  utmost  pomp,  to  the 
cathedral.  Masses,  and  the  solemn  ceremonies  of  the  dead  were 
performed  by  the  bishop,  and  the  mortal  remains  of  Columbus 
were  deposited  in  the  wall  on  the  right  side  of  the  grand  altar, 
where  they  still  remain." 

It  is  hardly  possible,  I  think,  to  avoid  feeling  profoundly  inter- 
ested and  affected  on  looking  at  the  spot,  that  little  spot,  where  the 
ashes  of  the  mighty  man  repose  who  gave  the  vast  world  of  the 
wild  far  West  to  the  East ;  and  to  the  West — Heaven  :  for  he 
bade  the  great  Star  of  the  East,  the  star  of  holy  religion  and 
blessed  Christianity,  to  shed  its  glorious  rays  on  that  benighted 
and  unconscious  West. 

There  were  but  a  very  few  people  in  the  cathedral  to  disturb  or 
distract  the  deep  feeling  of  reverence  with  which  we  regarded  that 
hallowed  tomb.  One  or  two  kneeling  figures  of  women,  silently 
and  fervently  praying,  only  added  to  the  solemnity  of  the  scene. 
It  is  a  touching  and  sweet  custom  in  Cuba  for  all,  without  the 
least  distinction  of  color  or  class,  to  kneel  together  on  the  floor  of 
the  churches.  You  will  see  a  fair  senora,  splendidly  dressed, 
kneeling  on  her  piece  of  carpet  (carried  to  the  church  by  her  little 
negro  page),  and  by  her  side,  perhaps,  a  negro  bends  his  head, 
grizzled  with  age,  in  prayer ;  or  a  negress,  attired  in  the  most 
gaudy  colors  of  scarlet,  blue,  and  yellow,  uplifts  her  jet-black 
hands  in  silent  supplication. 

We  have  been  to  see  the  bishop's  palace-gardens,  now  belonging 
to  the  Conde  de  Penalver.  The  Conde  is  restoring  them  to  all 
their  pristine  beauty,  for  they  had  lately  been  much  neglected. 
There  are  great  numbers  of  fine  mangoes  here,  and  pleasant  is  it 
walking  in  the  shadowy  alleys  which  they  form.  There  are  also 
some  beauteous  bread-fruit  trees,  whose  large  and  deeply  indented 
leaves  I  most  particularly  admire. 

A  splendid  India-rubber  tree  attracted  our  attention  much.  Mr. 

C (Lord  L 's  brother),  who  went  with  us,  broke  off  a 

branch,  and  the  liquid  India-rubber  oozed  out  plentifully,  and  cov- 
ered his  hands,  sticking  his  fingers  together  in  an  uncomfortable 
fashion,  as  if  he  had  been  washing  his  hands  in  a  jar  of  treacle. 

An  unfortunate  crocodile  pines  in  solitude  in  these  gardens,  that 


NMIROWNESS  OF  THE  STREETS.  257 

is  to  say,  without  any  of  his  own  kith  and  kin  to  soothe  his  weary 
hours.  Various  animals — some  rare  ones — are  confined  in  that 
part  of  the  grounds ;  there  are  some  ornamental  pieces  of  water 
there,  covered  with  splendid  lilies  of  a  beautiful  rose  color  ;  and  the 
glorious  ceiba,  and  the  fair  royal  palm  K  Cuba,  stand  like  rival 
monarchs  of  the  vegetable  world.  The  flowers,  of  course,  were 
almost  without  number  in  this  beauteous  place. 

Besides  this  delightful  possession,  the  Conde  has  a  splendid  house 
in  the  city,  in  which,  I  hear,  there  is  a  boudoir  representing  the 
apartment  of  a  mandarin  and  mandariness  in  far  Pekin,  which  is 
declared  to  be  in  the  Chinesest  taste  imaginable,  and  more  Pekinish 
than  the  Chinese  junk  itself. 

We  have  seen  several  traces  of  the  last  violent  hurricane  here. 
The  most  complete  ruin  is  that  of  an  unfinished  opera-house  of  the 
most  magnificent  dimensions :  it  remains  there  still  in  its  frag- 
mentary state,  encumbering  the  ground,  waiting  for  an  enterprising 
speculator  to  repair  the  damage  and  finish  it,  or  perhaps  for  an- 
other hurricane  to  act  the  part  of  squatter,  and  make  a  complete 
clearing.  It  is  a  superstition  among  the  more  ignorant  classes  in 
Havana,  that  in  consequence  of  turning  a  church  dedicated  to  San 
Francisco  (who,  it  seems,  is  the  patron  saint  of  hurricanes)  into  a 
tobacco  warehouse  or  something  of  that  kind,  the  island  will  be 
visited  by  a  succession  of  hurricanes,  the  last  of  which  will  destroy 
Havana  entirely,  and  sweep  it  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  It  is 
said  several  have  already  taken  place  on  San  Francisco's  day. 

The  streets  are  exceedingly  narrow  here,  and  the  volantes,  with 
their  immensely  long  shafts  and  enormous  wheels,  turn  in  them 
with  the  greatest  difficulty,  but  luckily  they  do  not  easily  overturn. 
In  the  suburbs  the  streets  are  wider.  A  single  volante  stopping 
will  sometimes  block  up  a  whole  calle.  The  calesero  is  urged,  per- 
haps, by  some  other  driver  behind  to  let  him  pass,  but  it  is  not 
always  this  is  conceded  by  the  fair  Creoles  in  the  carriage ;  at  least 
so  says  La  Condesa  de  Merlin,  in  her  amusing  "  Viaje  a  la  Ha- 
bana."  Often,  she  tells  us,  is  a  feminine  voice  heard  from  the 
depths  of  quitrin  or  volante,  crying,  "  No  te  muevas,  Juan,  no  te 
muevas  por  nadie !" 

They  keep,  in  rich  families,  one  volante,  at  least,  constantly 
waiting,  all  ready,  at  the  door,  in  case  any  of  the  members  of  the 
family  should  take  a  sudden  fancy  for  a  little  drive ;  and  in  many, 
wealthy  establishments,  each  daughter — nay,  each  child — has  her 
own  volante  !  Among  the  poorer  classes  (and  poor  they  must  be, 
indeed,  if  they  do  not  indulge  themselves  with  one  carriage  at 


258  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

least)  it  is  constantly  the  custom,  from  want  of  the  necessary  space 
and  building,  to  turn  a  corner  of  the  drawing-room  into  a  coach- 
house. In  fact,  I  was  told  they  consider  a  handsome  volante  (and 
rather  than  not  have  a  handsome  one  they  would  half-starve  them- 
selves on  a  little  chocolate  and  a  cigarito)  a  really  great  ornament 
to  their  not  otherwise  much-furnished  rooms.  It  looks  very  con- 
spicuous and  very  stately  with  its  gigantic  wheels,  and  it  is  occa- 
sionally used,  I  am  informed,  as  a  sort  of  elevated  and  sociable 
arm-chair  by  two,  or  perhaps  three,  of  the  ladies  of  the  house  when, 
the  rooms  are  particularly  full ;  and  thus,  raised  as  it  were  on  a 
silver  embossed  throne  above  their  guests,  they  chat  with  them 
condescendingly,  and  survey  them  complacently  from  an  advan- 
tageous position. 

I  have  never  witnessed  this  little  domestic  enthronization  my- 
self, but  we  have  frequently  seen  the  volante  standing  like  any 
other  piece  of  furniture  in.  the  drawing-room,  as  we  walked  or 
drove  by.  It  is  impossible  not  to  see  into  their  sitting-rooms  :  they 
are  on  the  ground-floors.  Havana  houses  are  generally  extremely 
low — I  suppose  on  account  of  the  hurricanes — and  in  the  less 
magnificent  mansions  such  a  sight,  as  I  said  before,  is  quite  common. 

These  apartments,  in  general,  have  a  great  resemblance  to  each 
other ;  large,  cool,  and  with  little  furniture  except  a  number  of 
rocking-chairs,  which  are  called  here  b^ltacas.  On  these,  softly 
balancing  themselves  backward  and  forward,  will  be  seen  usually 
the  ladies  of  the  family,  their  perpetual-motion  fans  in  their  white 
hands — those  never-to-be-forgotten  or  dispensed-with  fans,  which 
they  agitate  cadcnciosamente,  and  with  the  utmost  grace. 

It  may  perchance  be  a  tertulia  that  you  look  upon  :  the  great 
doors  are  thrown  open  de  par  en  *par.  Numerous  lights  are  blaz- 
ing in  beautiful  candelabras  of  glass  or  alabaster  ;  flowers  are  pro- 
fusely scattered  about  in  lovely  vases  of  porcelain  and  silver,  and 
enormous  faroles — a  species  of  splendid  lantern,  which  sheds  the 
most  dazzling  light — are  illuminating  the  recesses  of  the  spacious 
apartments,  and  the  broad  corridors,  and  large  balconies,  where 
groups  of  men  may  be  seen  talking  together,  or  admiring  the  beau- 
tiful array  of  ladies  seated  in  the  grand  sola. 

They  seem  to  have  a  pleasant  custom  here  of  rising  from  the 
dinner-table  after  the  segundo  servicio.  And  during  the  time  oc- 
cupied in  making  a  complete  change  of  decorations,  they  take  a 
paseo — a  little  promenade — for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  or  some  min- 
utes, in  the  enormous  galleries  (furnished  with  green  jalousies  to 
exclude  every  ray  of  the  sun,  and  in  which,  during  the  hottest  sea- 


HAVANA  FRUITS  AND  FLOWERS.  259 

son,  they  usually  dine)  or  in  the  beautiful  gardens  under  the  shadowy 
coolness  of  the  interlacing  bowers  and  avenues. 

On  their  return  to  the  banqueting-room,  they  find  an  immense 
profusion  of  crystal,  alabaster,  or  porcelain  vases,  and  canastillas 
(small  baskets)  of  silver,  loaded  with  a  vast  variety  of  fruits. 
"  Mameys"  which,  says  Madame  de  Merlin,  are  "  Alimento  de  las 
almas  bienaventuradas  en  los  valles  del  otro  mundo,  segun  la 
creencia  de  los  habitantes  de  Haiti,"  and  the  "  zapatillas  suaves," 
which  she  declares  have  a  "  gusto  silvestre."  Then  there  are 
tunas — a  very  handsome  fruit  of  a  lovely  rose-color,  about  the  size 
of  a  small  pine-apple,  the  inside  of  which  is  excellent,  and  all  of  it 
eatable  :  it  looks  like  the  most  delicate  royal  ermine — with  the 
tiniest  little  black  tags — whipped  ermine  ! — almost  beaten  to  a 
soft  creamy  froth.  This  fruit  is  reckoned  remarkably  wholesome, 
and  is  so  good  that  the  "  almas  bienaventuradas"  would  do  well  to 
add  it  to  their  mameys.  Then  there  are  guayavas,  and  hosts  of . 
others. 

Besides  fruits  of  almost  innumerable  kinds,  and  sizes,  and  shapes, 
there  are  crowds  of  light  silver  dishes,  and  bandejas  or  dulces — 
which  mean  all  kinds  of  sweets  (dulces  variados  hasta  lo  infinito) ; 
and  the  table,  the  borders  of  the  dishes,  even  the  glasses,  are 
wreathed,  and  covered,  and  almost  buried  in  flowers.  This  change 
is  like  the  work  of  magic  :  the  most  delicious  perfumes  chase  away 
even  the  faintest  smell  of  meat,  and  the  eye  reposes  itself  on  a 
rainbow-colored  wilderness  of  blossoms  mixed  with  the  most  tempt- 
ing and  the  choicest  fruits.  Enormous  doors,  or  rather  puerta- 
ventanas  (doors  and  windows  in  one),  are  opened  on  the  balconies, 
and  gigantic  windows  besides,  perhaps  lightly  draperied  with 
muslin  (and  during  the  day-time  shaded  with  persianas — Vene- 
tian blinds)  to  exclude  the  tropical  sun's  scorching  beams,  are 
thrown  wide  open,  and  through  them  the  soft  zephyr  passes,  and 
the  refreshing,  cooling  sound  and  sight  of  the  glittering  fountains. 

The  best  time  for  flowers  in  Cuba  is  the  winter — if  winter  it 
can  be  called.  They  then  abound  in  all  their  richest  beauty.  In 
the  summer  the  intense  heat  of  the  sun  withers  them  up. 


CHAPTER   XXXVI. 

Performance  of  a  Military  Band  in  the  Grand  Square — The  Diversified 
Company — Description  of  Havana  Nights — The  Opera-house — The  Sing- 
ers— Exhortation  to  Spanish  Ladies  to  preserve  their  National  Dress — 
An  Execution — Material  Prosperity  of  Havana — "Jesus  del  Monte" — • 
Dinner  with  the  Captain-General — The  Company — Escort  of  the  Conde 
— Preparations  for  the  Isthmus  Journey — A  Tertuha — Miss  M 's  ex- 
quisite Playing  and  Singing — The  Environs  of  Havana — The  Paseo  of 
Ysabel  Segunda — Environs  of  Havana  in  the  Evening — "  Guagiros" — 
Description  of  their  Houses — Customs  and  dress  of  the  "Guagiros" — 
Chinese  Laborers  in  Havana — Anecdote  of  Chinese  Thieves — Preparing 
to  depart  for  Panama. 

WE  went  to  hear  trie  military  band  play  last  evening  in  the 
Grand  Square  :  it  was  a  splendid  band,  and  played  several  opera 
airs  beautifully.  Many  ladies  were  walking  up  and  down,  generally 
attended  by  caballeros ;  but  the  greater  part  of  the  distinguees 
Habaneras  were  in  their  volantes,  each  fair  senorita  looking  like 
the  Reine  des  fees,  crowned  with  flowers.  The  mucliedumbre 
(mob  or  crowd)  were  standing  about,  evidently  enjoying  the  music ; 
the  negroes,  and  their  sable  dames  and  damsels,  especially  appear 
to  delight  in  it.  The  whole  scene  is  one  of  great  beauty  and  en- 
chantment :  the  lovely  trees  in  the  Grand  Plaza,  the  magnificent 
crystal  sun  of  the  night — that  crown  of  glory — (which  is  so  unlike 
that  tame  somewhat  half-a-crown-like  silver  lamp,  we  call  the 
moon,  in  our  little  northern  naok),  the  flower- crowned  ladies  in 
those  fairy  chariots,  sparkling  with  silver — the  splendid  liveries  of 
the  postillions — the  gay  military  uniforms — the  picturesque-looking 
negroes  and  negresses  standing  about  (or  sometimes  dancing  in 
their  glee  to  the  exhilarating  tunes  that  are  played),  the  negresses 
occasionally  in  white  dresses,  scarlet  satin  shoes,  yellow  turbans, 
and  blue  scarfs,  and.  various  other  such  fantastical  combinations  of 
colors,  with  their  great  flaming  eyes,  a  laflor  de  la  cara — all  unite 
to  form  a  delightful  and  singular  picture. 

How  true  is  this  description  of  an  Havana  night  by  a  charming 
writer  :  "  La  noche  es  aqui  tan  deliciosa  ! — que  transparencia  !  que 
grandeza  en  este  cielo  resplandeciente  de  estrellas  y  de  meteoros  ! 
— como  penetra  en  los  poros  abiertos  por  el  calor  el  soplo  tibio  de 
la  brisa  de  tierra  embalsamada  con  todos  los  perfumes  de  la  vege- 


THE  OPERA-HOUSE.  261 


tacion.  El  aire  fresco  <le  la  tarde  reemplaza  al  calor  sofocante  del 
dia  bajo  un  cielo  tan  claro  como  si  el  disco  de  la  luna  lo  ocupase 
todo." 

We  have  been  to  the  opera,  which  is  very  good  here  indeed. 

The  Tacon  Theatre  (the  Opera-house)  is  beautiful.     Mrs.  T , 

with  whom  I  have  had  the  pleasure  to  make  acquaintance  here, 
was  so  good  as  to  invite  us  to  go  with  her.  Her  box  was  an  ex- 
cellent one,  and  we  saw  and  heard  to  perfection.  The  interior 
of  this  theatre,  which  is  very  large,  is  exquisitely  light  and  grace- 
ful, and  beautifully  decorated  :  the  boxes  are  only  separated  by  a 
slight  railing,  and  there  is  another  gilded  railing  in  front  of  them. 
The  whole  has  the  most  cool,  aerial,  and  brilliant  appearance 
imaginable,  and  reminded  me  a  little  of  a  vast  and  most  magnifi- 
cent saloon  I  had  seen  in  one  of  the  palaces  of  the  Sultan  at 
Constantinople 

The  opera  was  the  "  Huguenots  ;"  it  was  admirably  got  up  and 
put  on  the  stage.  Steffanoni  and  Bosio  were  the  chief  female 
singers,  and  the  men  were  Salvi  and  Marini,  &c.  Salvi  sang 
quite  splendidly.  After  the  opera,  Signora  Bosio  came  on  the 
stage,  dressed  like  a  "  Madrilena"  (it  was  her  benefit),  and  sang 
some  Spanish  airs  exquisitely,  in  the  true  piquant  Spanish  style : 
the  songs  were  interrupted  by  spoken  remarks,  and  almost  con- 
vulsed the  audience  with  laughter.  Among  other  things,  she  ap- 
peared (in  a  pretty  patois)  to  be  recommending  the  Spanish  man- 
tilla and  dress  to  universal  use,  and  to  be  abusing  the  French 
fashions  most  unmercifully,  in  the  drollest  and  quaintest  manner, 
her  arms  akimbo,  and  yet  looking  as  graceful  as  possible. 

And  how  right  the  "  Madrilena"  was  !  What  can  be  so  beau- 
tiful as  that  loveliest  of  costumes  1  The  Spanish  ladies  should 
take  care  what  they  are  doing.  If  there  are  to  be  "no  Pyrenees" 
in  the  matters  of  dress,  will  not  "the  ladies  of  Spain"  lose  their 
greatest,  most  characteristic,  and  peculiar  of  charms?  Such  a 
macadamization  of  costumes  to  one  insipid  sameness,  as  seems  ever 
to  be  gaining  ground,  in  defiance  of  the  difference  of  climate,  cus- 
toms, and  other  regulating  circumstances,  will  make- the  world  a 
trifle  more  trite  and  stupid  than  it  is  at  present ;  but  I  hope  the 
masses  will  generally  have  the  good  sense  to  retain  their  beautiful 
old  dresses.  What  an  unintentional  dissertation  !  "  Annotations 
and  reflections"  on  Signora  Bosio's  lively  song !  By  the  way, 
both  at  Mexico  and  here,  the  mere  appearance  of  the  beauteous 
Spanish  costume  was  alone  enough  to  draw  forth  ardent  applause ! 

The  Habaneros  seem  to  form  an  enthusiastic  audience,  and  to 


262  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

be  possessed  of  great  good  taste  and  discrimination.  The  fair 
Habaneras  look  particularly  well  at  the  opera :  we  saw  some 
extremely  handsome  ones,  with  the  whitest  of  skins,  and  the 
blackest  of  hair.  In  these  light  gilded  boxes  they  look  like  hund- 
reds of  Peris  in  magnificent  cages,  fluttering  their  fans,  as  though 
about  to  escape.  This  incessant  movement  of  nearly  innumerable 
fans  makes  the  vast  airy  house  seem  as  if  it  was  hovering  on  ten 
thousand  waving  wings,  and  on  the  point  of  soaring  away  to  mix 
among  those  gigantescas  nubes  (huge  clouds)  so  well  described  by 
the  authoress  I  have  already  quoted,  when  she  says,  "  Como  se 
balancean  en  el  aire  las  nubes  gigantescas  adornadas  de  opalos  y 
de  rubies,"  when  from  time  to  time  large  gauzy  splendid  luminous 
vapors  float  on  this  resplendent  atmosphere. 

We  drove  to  the  opera,  and  returned  in  an  open  volante  (one 

of  Mrs.  T 's).  The  air  was  so  deliciously  warm,  yet  fresh 

and  not  suffocating,  that  on  coming  out  of  the  house  it  seemed  to 
be  hotter  than  it  was  within.  Soldiers  are  stationed  round  the 
theatre  to  keep  order,  and  the  crowds  of  volantes  rush  off  with  the 
utmost  regularity. 

There  was  an  execution  here  the  other  day.  The  criminal 
was  a  Spaniard ;  the  crime,  murder ;  and  he  has  confessed,  since 
his  detection  and  imprisonment,  a  large  number  of  assassinations 
that  he  had  committed  previously.  He  made  a  public  declaration 
before  he  was  garotted,  stating  that  all  his  wickedness  was  caused 
by  the  early  desertion  of  his  parents,  and  his  total  want  of  educa- 
tion. Mr.  C went  to  see  the  execution.  We  passed  the 

place  by  chance  where  it  was  to  take  place,  the  evening  before, 
and  there  was  already  a  large  throng  of  persons  collected  to  see 
the  dreadful  spectacle ;  so  they  seem  as  fond  of  such  horrors  in 
this  land  of  flowers  and  sunshine,  as  the  citizens  of  smoky,  dusky 
London. 

Havana  is  brilliantly  lighted  with  gas  :  when  there  is  a  moon, 
however,  the  gas  is  not  lighted,  as  it  would  be  indeed  quite  a 
work  of  supererogation.  There  are  American  omnibuses  that  run 
regularly  to  the  Cerro,  and  the  other  suburbs.  The  Americans 
(they  tell  me)  take  the  lead  always  in  commencing  these  improve- 
ments, and  after  being  for  a  while  in  leading  strings  under  their 
tuition,  the  citizens  of  Havana  take  the  management  of  these 
affairs  into  their  own  hands. 

No  city  can  well  give  one  an  idea  of  greater  material  prosperity 
than  the  Havana.  The  numbers  of  beautiful  shops,  teeming  with 
every  article  of  luxury,  grace,  and  convenience ;  the  magnificent 


DINNER  WITH  THE  CAPTAIN-GENERAL.  263 

palaces  and  quintas  (country  houses)  in  the  neighborhood ;  the 
splendor  and  opulence  visible  on  all  sides  ;  the  brilliancy  and  cost- 
liness of  the  countless  thousands  of  equipages,  hurrying  hither  and 
thither  on  errands  of  pleasure  and  business — all  make  this  appear, 
as  I  believe  it  is,  one  of  the  most  flourishing  arid  wealthy  cities  in 
the  world. 

As  to  the  carriages  they  seem  literally  running  over  one  an- 
other. I  have  before  said  that  I  had  heard  every  daughter  in  a 
rich  family  has  her  own  special  volanta,  and  I  see  this  is  more 
than  corroborated  by  the  Condesa  de  Merlin.  She  says,  "  acqui 
cada  individuo  de  la  familia  hasta  los  ninos,  tiene  su  volanta." 

We  went  up  to  Jesus  del  Monte,  the  other  day,  to  see  Miss 

Inglis,  sister  of  Madame  C.  de  la  B .  She  appears  to  be  a 

charming  person,  and  is  much  liked  and  admired  here  :  her  blonde 
chevelure  and  blue  eyes,  make  her  a  great  contrast  to  the  dark- 
eyed  Habaneras  in  general.  She  is  staying  with  a  cousin  at  Jesus 
del  Monte  (it  is  a  sort  of  suburb  of  Havana,  and  is  situated  on  a 
height,  with  beautiful  views  and  cool  country  air).  They  have 
a  delightful  house  there,  and  it  is  an  easy  distance  from  the  cap- 
ital. The  road  to  and  from  this  place  is  lovely,  bordered  on  each 
side  with  roses  and  pomegranates. 

We  dined  with  the  Captain-General  and  the  Condesa  de  Alcoy, 

the  other  night.  With  the  exception  of  Mr.  K ,  the  judge, 

and  Mr.  C ,  the  guests  were  all  Spanish  and  Habanese.  The 

Conde  speaks  French  fluently,  but  the  Condesa  and  her  daughter 
know  no  language  but  Spanish ;  so  I  was  obliged  to  talk  Spanish 
as  well  as  I  could,  which  is  very  indifferently  indeed.  The  ban- 
quet was  very  splendid. 

The  palace  is  magnificent.  There  is  a  large  full-length  portrait 
of  Qufeen  Ysabel  Segunda,  in  one  of  the  enormous  lofty  rooms, 
which  represents  her  as  very  interesting-looking  and  pretty :  the 
Condesa  says  she  is  exceedingly  improved  in  looks  lately.  During 
the  dinner  an  immense  number  of  slaves  waited  behind  the  guests' 
chairs  (here  they  did  not  rise  between  the  courses,  as  we  are  told 
they  do  in  Creole  families) ;  and  when  the  dessert  was  over, 
all  rose  at  once,  and  repaired  to  the  large  balconied  drawing- 
rooms  for  chocolate  and  coffee.  Behind  her  chair,  at  dinner,  the 
Condesa  had  a  little  Chinese  page-in-waiting,  attired  in  the  com- 
plete dress  of  the  scorners  of  outer  barbarians.  This  costume  was 
made  of  the  richest  materials,  and  looked  extremely  handsome. 

After  dinner,  a  kind  of  reception,  or  tertulia,  took  place.  The 
ladies  were  all  ranged  in  a  formal  semicircle.  I  sate  next  to  the 


264  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

Condesa ;  and  a  French  lady,  who  could  not  speak  a  syllable  of 
Spanish,  sate  on  the  other  side  of  her.  However,  the  Conde  and 
some  of  the  gentlemen  who  spoke  French,  conversed  with  her,  and 
the  evening  passed  away  very  pleasantly  altogether. 

We  returned  home,  as  usual,  in  an  open  volanta,  after  staying 
a  little  while  in  the  Grand  Plaza,  to  hear  the  band.  When  the 
Conde  drives  out,  it  is  always  with  a  gallant  escort  of  lancers. 
He  has  an  open  carriage  that  looks  like  one  of  Parisian  manu- 
facture, and  the  Condesa  and  Mademoiselle  de  Roncali  always 
appear  in  bonnets  that  seem  fresh  from  Paris,  thus  discarding  the 
beautiful  Spanish  mantilla  entirely. 

>  General  C ,  the  American  Consul  here — a  very  gentleman- 
like and  distinguished  person,  whose  acquaintance  I  have  lately 
made — has  kindly  offered  to  arrange  about  my  passage  for  me, 
and  I  am  busily  preparing  for  our  Isthmus  journey.  We  .have  to 
take  provisions,  get  riding-dresses,  &c.,  and  as  the  steamer  stays 
a  very  short  time  when  she  does  arrive,  it  is  necessary  that  we 
should  be  quite  ready. 

To-day  it  is  very  hot,  and  the  least  exertion  fatigues  one ;  not- 
withstanding, there  is  a  charming  breeze  from  the  sea,  and  this 
hotel  is  in  a  very  cool  situation.  I  can  not  describe  how  enchant- 
ingly  cool  the  palace  is  :  with  its  enormous  galleries  and  corridors 
of  white  marble,  and  immense  halls  and  solas,  I  should  think  they 
could  never  find  it  too  hot  there.  In  the  hottest  day  it  must  be 
like  those  ice-caves  where  Winter  reigns,  while  Summer  is  revel- 
ing in  all  her  splendor  within  a  few  feet  of  him.  I  was  so  sorry 
when  I  heard,  after  we  had  left  New  Haven,  that  one  of  these 
extraordinary  caves  is  to  be  seen  very  near  that  city.  There  is 
another,  I  believe,  in  Georgia. 

We  have  been  to  a  little  tertulia  .at  Mrs.   M 's.     The 

flowers  there  were  inexpressibly  delicious  and  lovely,  and  so  was 
the  music.  I  never  heard  such  magnificent  playing  on  the  piano- 
forte but  once,  as  Miss  M 's.  Her  execution  is  perfectly 

prodigious ;  but  in  addition  to  that  she  seems  to  have  a  soul  at 
every  one  of  her  fingers'  ends — and  a  seraph's  soul  to  boot.  The 
strength  and  power  with  which  she  touches  the  instrument  is 
wonderful.  The  whole  performance  indeed  is  quite  magical,  and 
when  one  looks  at  the  delicate,  svelte,  sylph-like  figure  of  the  young 
lady,  you  can  hardly  believe  it  was  she  who  called  forth  the 
volume  of  sound  that  you  heard. 

Miss  M sang  a  French  song  afterward,  beautifully :  but, 

in  consequence  of  a  delicacy  of  chest,  from  over-exertion  of  the 


PASEO  OF  YSABEL  SEGUNDA.  265 

voice  in.  practicing,  she  is  not  allowed  to  sing  often,  and  only  songs 
that  do  not  try  the  voice  much.  The  exquisite  feeling,  grace,  and 
marvelous  delicacy  of  execution  with  which  she  sang  that  little 
romanza,  made  one  regret  deeply  that  imperious  necessity  forced 
her  to  abstain  from  further  exercise  of  her  charming  vocal  powers. 

Miss  M speaks  but  little  English,  and  that  with  a  pretty 

French  accent,  though  her  father  is  English.  Her  mother  is 
French.  I  believe,  from  living  at  Havana,  she  speaks  Spanish 
like  a  native. 

In  the  large  Creole  houses  here,  that  I  have  seen,  I  observe  in 
the  chief  sala  a  sort  of  canopy  over  a  sofa  at  the  head  of  the  room, 
where  the  mistress  of  the  house  sits  with  perhaps  one  or  two 
distinguished^guests.  The  rest  are  seated  on  chairs,  either  in  a 
semi-circle,  or  in  a  double  line,  like  a  living  human  avenue. 

We  had  a  delightful  drive  the  other  day  in  the  environs  of 

Havana.  -We  first  went  to  see  Mrs.  C ,  the  lady  of  tho 

American  Consul.  Their  house  is  large,  and  very  pleasant ;  the 
marble  floors,  with  here  and  there  a  pretty  mat,  look  charmingly 
cool.  We  then  went  to  see  different  views  of  the  city,  which  are 
all  beautiful.  We  drove  through  the  lovely  Paseo  de  Tacon,  and 
admired  its  immense  length,  and  splendid  fountains,  and  statues. 

The  Paseo  of  Ysabel  Segunda,  is  also  a  very  charming  one  ; 
and  ladies  and  children  are  sometimes  seen  promenading  under  its 
umbrageous  and  flower-besprinkled  alleys,  which  is  rare  in  Havana, 
for  hardly  ever  does  a  sefiora's  foot — the  lovely  Spanish  "  foot  of 
fire" — touch  the  earth  in  this  be-carriaged  and  luxurious  place. 
The  different  roads  around  the  capital,  in  the  evening,  are  gener- 
ally alive  with  people  hurrying  on  business,  or  driving  leisurely 
and  loungingly  along,  enjoying  the  dolce  far  niente,  which  is  in- 
deed to  be  indulged  in  to  perfection  at  the  Havana.  Now  you 
meet  a  quitrin  or  volanla,  or  two  and  three  together,  filled  with 
ladies,  and  now  a  hacendado  (planter)  returning  from  his  estate, 
perhaps,  near  the  capital,  cigarito-m  mouth,  and  looking  as  if  life 
was  as  full  of  sweets  for  him  as  his  land  is  of  sugar ;  and  now  it 
is  a  knot  of  guagiros,  or  monteros,  coming  on  some  errand  to  the 
city  or  the  suburbs.  These  are  a  peculiar  race  in  Cuba,  and  it 
is  said,  retain  many  of  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  the 
ancient  Indian  race,  to  whom  Cuba  once  belonged.  His  humble 
but  picturesque  house  is  probably  exactly  what,  in  former  times, 
was  that  of  the  aborigines.  Light  trees  of  the  same  height  are 
driven  fast  into  the  ground,  and  form  a  perfect  square.  But  the 
following  description  is  excellent :  "  Y  formando  un  quadrado 

M 


266  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

perfecto  sustentan  por  su  extremidad  una  especie  de  red  de 
bambues  que  colocados  transversalmente  crecen  y  son  atados  a  los 
arboles  con  lianas  6  enredaderas,  el  techo  se  cubre  con  hojas  de 
palmera,  y  se  llama  guano." 

These  palm-leaf-covered  roofs  are  very  light  and  cool,  and  they 
look  truly  graceful.  For  the  work  of  building  this  primitive 
habitation,  the  guagiros  call  in  the  assistance  of  their  neighbors, 
as  they  do  in  erecting  the  log-houses  in  Canada  (which  they  call 
summoning  a  bee)  in  a  day  at  the  longest :  it  is  done  with  the 
help  of  the  vecinos.  They  then  have  a  rude  house-warming 
(which  sounds  terrible,  however,  in  Cuba!)  A  sucking-pig  is 
cooked,  and  the  feast  is  devoured  right  merrily. 

Afterward,  "  forman  por  medio  de  tabiques"  (th*e  light  thin 
walls  are  formed  of  canes),  "  tres  habitaciones  iguales,  la  de  en 
medio  es  la  sala  en  las  otros  dos,  duerme  la  familia.  Los  tabiques 
se  cubren  de  corteza  de  palmera,  que  destinada  a  este  uso,  toma  el 
nombre  de  yagua."  The  house  is  finished  entirely  in  two  or 
three  days.  There  are  two  puertas,  but  no  windows.  These 
puertas  are  also  formed  of  the  bark  of  the  palm  trees,  yagua. 
"  Y,"  continues  the  account,  "no  estan  unidas  al  edificio  sino  por 
la  parte  superior,  de  manera  que  se  abren  perpendicularmente,  y 
permanecen  suspendidas  por  medio  de  una  vara  de  hierro  que  las 
sostiene  en  el  aire  durante  el  dia."  At  night  this  bar  of  iron 
serves  to  fasten  the  doors  with. 

Generally,  in  front  of  this  picturesque  and  rural  abode  there  is 
another  cabana,  of  two  departments,  one  of  which  is  used  as  a 
kennel  and  stable  during  the  continuance  of  the  rainy  season,  and 
the  other  is  the  kitchen — a  very  simple  one.  If  you  go  in  you 
will  see  a  confusion  indeed,  "en  el  fondo  de  la  cocina  y  puestas 
junto  a  la  pared,  estan  colocados  trcs  enormes  piedras  que  sirven 
de  hornillas  encima  una  olla — y  alrededor  del  fuego  bananas 
buniatos  y  papas  en  profusion."  Besides,  there  are  chairs,  stools, 
cups  of  the  humblest  materials,  earthen  dishes,  dogs,  birds, 
chickens,  people  reposing  on  the  rough  table  or  floor,  birds'-nests 
full  of  eggs  depending  from  the  bamboos,  and  a  tremendous  mas- 
tiff, that  growls  frightfully,  and  shows  his  teeth  threateningly,  if  a 
leaf  falls. 

This  rural  lodge  is  surrounded  by  magnificent  trees  which  a 
king  might  envy,  loaded  with  the  most  exquisite  fruits,  some  of 
enormous  size — the  papaya  and  platano — with  their  huge  leaves, 
the  ak'anforero,  and  the  beautiful  arbol  del  pan,  that  might  feed 
a  whole  regiment  in  a  time  of  famine  ;  the  odoriferous  vanilla, 


GUAGIROS.  267 


and  thousands  of  cactuses  in  flower,  coiled  and  enlazados  graciosa- 
mente,  with  a  profusion  of  hanging  plants,  that  unite  the  roofs  of 
the  cabanas  with  the  stately  trees,  and  shut  out  the  piercing  rays 
of  the  dazzling  sun. 

These  establecimientos  de  los  guagiros  are  not  ordinarily  destined 
for  a  long  continuance.  They  frequently  abandon  the  spot  they 
had  thus  selected,  and  transport  their  penates  to  some  other  place. 
They  again  construct  a  rude  but  graceful  habitation  in  a  few  days : 
y  siembran  en  seguida  las  legumbres ;  and  wherever  they  fix 
themselves  they  find  the  same  marvelous  riches  of  Nature  ready 
to  surround  and  adorn  their  homes.  However  simple  their 
cabanas  may  be,  the  entourage  is  worthy  of  an  imperial  palace. 

Sometimes  the  guagiro  takes  a  piece  of  ground  that  belongs  to 
nobody,  and  in  general  he  prefers  this;  but  if  he  is  particularly 
pleased  with  a  bit  of  land  that  already  has  a  dueilo  (a  master), 
conditions  are  then  entered  into,  as  in  Europe.  I  should  think, 
however,  he  must  have  less  and  less  opportunities  of  doing  this  in. 
this  highly  cultivated  and  flourishing  island.  The  cosecJtas  (crops) 
are  wonderfully  abundant,  and,  with  very  little  care,  this  fertile 
soil  will  produce  muchas  cosecJias  in  the  year.  The  beasts  in 
Cuba  are  generally  fed  on  maloja  (I  think  this  is  exactly  the 
same  as  Guina-grass),  and  on  maize;  and  the  guagiros  generally 
provide  this  for  the  great  proprietors  and  planters. 

The  wives  and  daughters  of  the  guagiros  make  "sombreros  de 
paja  y  de  las  cuerdas  de  majagua,"  and  this  forms  their  chief  or 
only  occupation.  They  have  always  a  slave,  however  moderate 
may  be  their  means,  to  do  all  the  household  work.  They  say 
these  guagiros  are  very  chivalrous  husbands,  and  may  often  be 
seen  carrying  themselves  the  tapete  (small  square  carpet)  to 
church,  for  their  wives  to  kneel  upon. 

The  guagiro  is  quite  a  dandy  with  regard  to  his  appearance. 
His  mornings  are  generally  passed  at  the  cock-fights — which  are 
as  popular  here  almost  as  in  Mexico — and  his  evenings  in  dancing 
or  singing  to  his  guitar,  if  unmarried,  generally  before  the  estancia 
of  his  lady-love.  He  is,  in  his  own  way,  a  poet  and  a  Hero  too ; 
and  if  by  chance  he  should  encounter  a  rival  guitar rero,  singing 
sonnets  to  his  querida,  a  duel  with  their  knives,  takes  place  on  the 
spot.  If  he  receives  a  wound,  he  springs  on  his  gallant  horse,  and^ 
darts  through  the  canaveralcs  (the  cane-plantations),  and  hurries 
away  to  seek  a  chirurgeon,  that  he  may  appear  next  day  at  the  ac- 
customed spot  again,  to  defy  his  rival,  and  prance  and  caracolear, 
guitar  in  hand,  before  his  amada. 


268  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

The  corcel  has  his  bridle  generally  adorned  with  numerous  knots 
of  bright-colored  wool,  and  the  frontil  has  the  same  ornaments. 
He  himself  has  a  sombrero  de  paja,  with  an  immense  brim.  A 
brilliantly-colored  scarf  is  tied  round  his  waist,  with  the  ends  float- 
ing, zapatos  de  tajilete  (morocco  leather  shoes)  of  some  gay  color, 
with  silver  spurs :  from  his  beautifully-embroidered  cinturon 
(belt)  hangs  his  machete,  with  a  silver  hilt  encrusted  with  precious 
stones,  and  there,  too,  is  his  dagger  with  its  ebony  handle.  When 
on  business  he  is  not  ashamed  to  carry  a  sack  fastened  to  his  shoul- 
ders, and  when  on  a  pleasure-excursion,  on  the  saddle  of  the 
horse  you  may  spy  the  guitarra  and  the  quitasal  of  his  fair  seno- 
rita,  the  amiable  guagira. 

On  his  business-expeditions  he  goes  from  place  to  place,  to  Inge- 
nio  and  Cafetal,  to  sell  his  fruits  and  collect  his  money.  Then 
he  returns  to  eat  an  excellent  dinner,  and  to  smoke  the  most  ex- 
quisite "  cigarros  elaborados  por  so  mujer  6  por  su  querida.  His 
horse  and  his  macJtete  (after  the  querida  and  mujer,  we  will 
hope)  are  his  greatest  treasures.  The  machete  is  not  only  an  in- 
dispensable weapon  of  defense  against  robbers,  rivals,  &c.,  but  is 
the  article  in  which  he  exhibits  his  chief  luxury  and  splendor,  and 
his  corcel  is  also  very  necessary  to  him  in  this  vida  vagabunda  in 
which  he  delights,  and  is  often  an  object  almost  of  adoration  to 
him.  But  the  reader  will  be  tired  of  guagiros. 

There  are  many  Chinese  laborers  here  now,  and  they  are  said 
to  work  very  hard  and  well.  Why  do  they  not  try  them  in  Ja- 
maica ?  It  is  said  the  Coolies  have  failed  there.  I  was  amused 

at  an  anecdote  concerning  the  Chinese,  that  Captain  A ,  told 

me  the  other  day.  It  occurred  when  he  was  on  the  coast  of  China 
in  a  merchantman — I  think  at  Canton.  The  ship  was  constantly 
robbed  at  night,  by  very  expert — not  house-breakers,  certainly,  but 
ship-breakers,  I  must  call  them.  The  weather  was  exceedingly  hot 
and  close,  and  it  was  necessary  to  leave  the  port-holes  open  lor  air. 
The  cunning  Chinese  ladrones  availed  themselves  of  this  circum- 
stance, and  introduced  themselves  into  the  apertures  by  night, 
very  adroitly  and  silently.  Their  toilet,  it  appears,  was  of  the 
most  primitive  possible  description,  and  consisted  wholly  and  solely 
of  a  copious  supply  of  oil  to  lubricate  their  bodies.  They  thus 
.made  themselves  as  slippery  as  eels,  and  if  detected,  eluded  the 
grasp  of  the  victimized  mariners,  and  plunged  back  into  the  water. 
Their  long  tails  (which  would  otherwise  have  afforded  capital 
handles)  were  abundantly  provided  with  fish-hooks,  sharp  knives, 
pins,  nails,  &c. — in  short  they  were  made  quite  a  chevaux  defrise 


CHINESE  THIEVES.  269 


in  order  that  any  one  seizing  them  should  rapidly  let  them  go 
again. 

One  of  those  sJiarp  sharpers  paid  a  visit  one  night  to  the  cabin 
of  a  young  officer,  who  woke,  and  despite  of  oil  and  fish-hooks, 
took  a  good  gripe  at  the  interloper  and  held  on  like  grim  death 
with  one  hand,  while  with  the  other,  armed  with  a  stout  cutlass, 
or  some  weapon  of  the  kind,  he  actually  inflicted  the  grim  death 
aforesaid  on  the  rascally  son  of  the  flowery  central  land,  who  thus 
like  a  celestial  Paul  Pry,  had  dropped  in  literally  in  the  cool  of 
the  evening.  The  officer  flung  the  body  into  the  sea,  and  it  was 
found  afterward  by  the  indignant  Chinese,  and  a  mighty  hubbub 
was  raised.  It  was  discovered  by  some  means,  or  at  any  rate 
shrewdly  suspected,  that  the  act  had  been  committed  on  board  the 
merchant  ship,  and  the  mandarins  insisted  that  the  offender  should 
be  given  up  to  them.  It  happened  that  the  butcher  of  the  ship, 
at  this  juncture,  committed  suicide.  They  bethought  themselves 
of  dressing  him  up  in  the  officer's  clothes,  and  formally  exhibited 
the  body  to  the  mandarins,  who  were  invited  on  board — peacock- 
feathers,  buttons,  and  all.  The  mandarins  were  informed  that  the 
unfortunate  officer,  struck  with  remorse,  had  put  an  end  to  his  ex- 
istence. But  our  good  friend,  John  Chinaman,  was  not  to  be  thus 
easily  imposed  upon.  He  declined  putting  any  faith  in  the  outer 
barbarians'  bare  assertions,  and  proceeded  to  examine  the  corpse. 
Immediately  that  the  mandarins  noticed  the  hands  of  the  deceased 
Knight  of  the  Cleaver,  they  exclaimed  that  those  were  not  the 
hands  of  an  officer,  and  demanded  that  the  real  offender  should  be 
forthwith  produced.  With  great  difficulty  the  young  man  was  se- 
creted, and  his  life  preserved  from  the  vengeance  of  the  Celestials. 

I  intend  to  leave  a  trunk  here,  with  all  the  things  I  set  most 
value  on,  for  fear  of  accidents  on  the  Isthmus,  and  to  take  as  little 
luggage  as  possible,  as  on  such  expeditions  it  is  very  inconvenient : 
"  Ojala  hubiese  empezado  antes  esta  reforma."  There  is  a  report 
that  the  "Georgia"  is  in  sight.  I  shall  not  see  much  of  the  Ha- 
vana this  time,  but  I  hope  to  visit  it  again  on  my  return ;  it  is  so 
interesting  and  beautiful  an  island. 

I  must  go  and  take  leave  of  my  American  acquaintance,  Mrs. 

.  She  is  going  with  her  husband  and  little  girl  back  to  the 

United  States.  They  have  taken  passages  on  board  the  "  Ysabel 
Segunda,"  and  they  fear  she  will  be  very  crowded,  as  they  find 
the  Italian  operatic  company  are  going  by  the  same  steamer,  on 
their  way  to  New  York,  where  they  are  going  to  perform.  Mrs. 
is  in  very  delicate  health,  suffering  from  that  fell  disorder,  so 


270  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

common  in.  the  United  States,  consumption.  She  came  to  Ha- 
vana by  medical  advice,  and  great  numbers  of  Americans  come 
here  annually  on  the  same  account.  I  hear  that  many  go  also  to 

Jamaica  and  to  Santa  Cruz.  Mrs.  W ,  another  American 

lady  who  was  staying  at  this  hotel,  and  with  whom  I  have  become 
acquainted,  is  just  gone  to  make  a  tour  of  the  island.  She  sings 
beautifully,  and  her  little  daughter  is  extraordinarily  handsome  ; 
she  has  lived  a  great  deal  in  Europe,  chiefly  in  Italy.  I  have 
heard  since  her  departure,  that  she  is  anxious  to  introduce  some 
improvements  in  the  railroads  here,  which  are  of  her  own  inven- 
tion. 

The  "  Georgia"  has  arrived.  We  shall  have  but  little  time 
now  to  make  any  further  preparations.  Tanto  me/or,  for  as  long 
as  one  has  time  one  fancies  something  may  be  better  arranged,  or 

is  requisite.  General  C has  kindly  called  to  tell  me  he  is 

going  on  board  the  "  Georgia"  this  morning,  and  will  do  all  he 
can  to  arrange  for  us  to  go,  but  she  is  expected  to  be  very  full. 
She  is  a  magnificent  vessel  of  about  three  thousand  tons. 

When  these  enormous  American  steamers  first  came  to  Havana, 
there  was  a  report  that  it  was  doubtful  whether  they  could  get  in 
through  the  narrow  entrance  to  the  harbor ;  however,  that  was 
found  to  be  of  easy  accomplishment.  The  "  Georgia"  is  said  to 
be  a  very  fast  vessel,  with  excellent  accommodations,  and  a  most 
gentlemanlike  captain.  We  take  leave  of  this  delightful  hotel 
with  regret.  Mr.  Fulton,  the  excellent  proprietor,  has  spared  no 
pains  to  render  us  as  comfortable  as  possible.  Chloe  is  very  un- 
happy to  part  with  the  "  lilly  missy,"  as  she  calls  her  in  her  broken 
English,  and  her  picturesque  jet  black  daughter  (a  girl  of  about 

fourteen),  whose  name  is  "  Lily,"  is  very  sorry,  too,  for  V 

and  she  were  great  friends,  and  equally  devoted  to  a  huge  and 
very  magnificent  macaw  (which,  however,  I  think  is  more  like 
Madame  Calderon  s  description  of  the  Huacamaya  than  a  macaw). 
This  splendid  creature  Lily  is  constantly  seen  carrying  on  the  top 
of  her  sable  woolly  head,  like  a  most  stately  and  dazzling  helmet : 
a  very  uncomfortable  head-dress,  I  should  think,  inasmuch  as  it 
was  perpetually  biting  at  her  wool  (that  did  not  matter,  it  was  so 
thick),  but  her  forehead  came  in  sometimes  for  a  snap  ;  and  then 
the  cap  did  not  fit,  and  occasionally  the  creature  half  fell,  and 
struggled  on  again  with  many  flutterings  and  clawings — but  Lily 
only  laughed  the  more,  and  showed  her  lightning-like  white  teeth. 


CHAPTER   XXXVII. 

Arrival  at  Panama — The  "  Georgia" — Kindness  and  Attention  of  Lieu- 
tenant Porter — Deficiency  of  Fresh  Water — An  Alarm  on  Board — Its 
Cause — Bustle  of  Preparation  to  land  at  Chagres — The  stout  Lady  and 
her  Trunk — Arrival  at  Chagres — Polished  Manners  of  American  Gen- 
tlemen— The  Bar  of  Chagres — Difficulty  of  landing  and  of  procuring 

Lodgings — Apartments  at  Sefior 's — General  Aspect  of  Chagres — 

The  Castle  of  San  Lorenzo — Its  present  Condition — Population  of  Cha- 
gres— Adventurers  to  California — Start  for  Gorgona. 

WE  have  arrived  at  Panama  in  perfect  safety,  and  the  glorious 
Pacific,  that  mightiest  world  of  waters,  is  at  this  moment  rolling 
its  majestic  waves  under  my  windows  as  I  write.  I  must  give  au 
account,  as  well  as  1  can,  of  our  voyage  and  journey. 

Through  General  C 's  kind  offices  every  thing  was  most 

comfortably  and  delightfully  arranged  for  us  on  board  the  mag- 
nificent steamer  "  Georgia,"  and  through  his  considerate  attention 
and  kindness  I  had  also  the  advantage  and  comfort  of  an  agree- 
able acquaintance  with  an  amiable  American  lady  on  board,  who 
was  going  with  her  little  boy  to  join  her  husband  in  California. 

This  steamer  is  commanded  by  an  officer  of  the  United  States 
navy,  Lieutenant  Porter,  son  of  the  celebrated  Commodore  Por- 
ter. It  is  impossible  any  where  to  meet  with  a  more  perfect,  high- 
bred, and  finished  gentlemen  than  Lieutenant  Porter.  He  seem- 
ed indefatigable  in  his  kind  endeavors  to  render  the  passengers 
comfortable,  and  his  courteous  attentions  to  all  could  not  be  too 
highly  praised.  There  was  an  immense  number  of  passengers 
altogether,  chiefly  deck  passengers,  en  route  to  California  (report 
said  thirteen  hundred,  but  I  believe  that  was  a  little  exaggera- 
tion), and  yet  every  thing  was  conducted  with  as  much  order  and 
regularity,  and  the  ship  was  as  perfectly  quiet  as  if  there  had  only 
been  thirty.  Our  cabins  were  large,  and  exceedingly  commodious 
and  particularly  nicely  furnished.  Muslins  embroidered  with  dif- 
ferent rich  patterns  and  colors,  formed  the  blinds  and  curtains  to 
the  berth  ;  they  had  a  very  cool  and  pretty  eflect.  There  were 
also  green  jalousies  to  the  windows.  We  had  a  capital  \\  elsli 
stewardess,  a  most  civil  and  attentive  one  ;  and  the  steward  was 
the  very  person  for  that  arduous  office. 

The  first  day  we  dined  in,  the  saloon ;  but  it  was  very  hot,  in 


272  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

consequence  of  its  being  necessary  to  have  lighted  candles  there, 
even  in  the  broadest  day-light.  The  rest  of  the  time  we  dined  in 
our  cabins,  where  it  was  very  pleasantly  cool,  considering  the  state 

of  the  atmosphere.  An  acquaintance  of  Mrs.  H ,  a  veiy  stout 

lady,  seemed  to  suffer  much  from  the  heat  of  the  weather,  but  did 
not  appear  to  become  in  the  least  thinner  in  consequence  ;  and  yet 
she  seemed  to  live  only  on  air,  and  that  air  was  only  what  her 
fan  procured  for  her.  She  was  a  very  good-humored  and  pleasing 
person  ;  and  must  be  one  of  great  energy  and  resolution,  for  she  is 
on  her  way  to  California,  having  determined  on  going  there,  and 
making  a  fortune  for  her  grand-children — so  she  told  my  maid. 
Though  very  stout  indeed,  I  should  not  have  thought  her  old 
enough  to  have  such  relatives ;  but  I  am  sure  they  ought  to  be 
both  proud  of,  and  grateful  to  their  enterprising  and  go-ahead 
grandmamma.  I  think  I  never  saw  a  more  benevolent  and  ami- 
able countenance. 

We  had  an  excellent  voyage  to  Chagres  ;  the  only  drawback 
was  a  short  supply  of  water.  The  captain  had  waited  a  long 
time  at  Havana  for  an  additional  provision,  but  from  some  dilato- 
riness  or  neglect  of  the  natives,  it  came  not,  and  he  was  obliged  to 
start  without  it.  Sea- water  and  soap  go  veiy  ill  together.  How 
would  the  reader  like  to  cleanse  his  face  by  rubbing  it  against  a 
grindstone  ?  I  think  the  salt-water  and  soap  seem  pretty  nearly 
as  rough.  It  is  still  more  disagreeable  to  rinse  the  mouth  with  it ; 
but  those  were  very  trifling  disagreeables,  and  of  little  moment. 

Our  voyage  otherwise  was  uninterruptedly  agreeable,  except 
one  little  alarm  which,  perhaps,  may  amuse  the  reader,  and  I  will 
repeat  it  for  his  edification.  A  day  or  two  before  we  arrived  at 
Chagres,  there  had  been  a  little  excitement  among  the  deck-pas- 
sengers— we  were  told,  in  consequence  of  one  of  them  losing  some 
money,  and  I  believe  his  watch.  Suspicion  fell  upon  one  of  his 
companions.  They  were  all  going  to  California,  where  from  the 
mixed  state  of  society,  the  vast  assemblage  of  people  from  all  parts 
of  the  world,  and  the  not  yet  thoroughly  organized  system  of  gov- 
ernment at  the  mines,  &c.,  the  most  uncompromising  severity,  and 
rigid  laws  against  all  similar  offenders  were  rendered  necessary. 
There  had  been  threats  muttered  of  Lynch  law,  we  were  told, 
but  I  did  not  place  much  reliance  on  these  reports,  as  the  passen- 
gers seemed  so  well-disposed,  respectable,  and  orderly  a  set  of  per- 
sons. This  little  anecdote  \vill  partly  show  how  philosophically 
Americans  will  sometimes  take  matters  where  their  interference 
would  be  utterly  useless  and  hopeless. 


ALARM  ON  BOARD.  273 


At  the  dead  of  night  (an  ominous  beginning  !)  I  was  awakened 
by  an  immense  noise  on  deck,  like  a  furious  stamping  and  pushing, 
and  as  I  fancied,  shrieks  and  expostulations.  On  the  promenade 
that  goes  all  round  the  ship,  several  mattresses  were  placed  every 
night  for  the  accommodation  of  some  of  the  passengers,  for  whom 
there  was  no  room  elsewhere.  The  night  was  suffocatingly  hot, 
and  the  cabin- windows  were  partially  opened  so  as  to  allow  a  pas- 
sage to  the  outward  air  through  the  closed  blinds.  As  I  have 
very  quick  ears,  and  the  alarm  made  one  more  than  usual  on  the 
qui  vive,  I  heard  one  of  the  passengers  call  out  to  another  some- 
thing like  this  : 

"  What  in  thunder's  the  matter  up  there,  sir  ?— do  you  hear 
that  infernal  noise  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir ; — guess  they're  throwing  that  man  overboard  they 
talked  of  lynching  to-day." 

"  Wai,  sir.  I  do  suppose  that  '11  be  it." 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Good-night,  sir  !" 

"  Good-night  to  you,  sir  !" 

For  my  part  I  felt  pretty  sure  all  was  over,  for  the  tremendous 
scrambling  and  struggling  and  yelling  had  suddenly  ceased.  No 
doubt  the  poor  victim,  maddened  and  desperate,  had  fought  like  a 
demon  for  life  for  a  brief  while,  but  overpowered  by  numbers,  had 
been  plunged  into  a  watery  grave. 

I  rushed  into  the  cabin  where  the  two  maids  slept,  anxious  to 
impart  the  dreadful  news,  and  horrify  them  at  least.  I  found 
them  already  listening  horror-struck,  to  the  noise,  and  in  great 
fear  that  the  terrible  event  alluded  to  had  happened.  Presently, 
in  the  now  deep  stillness,  I  heard  a  loud  pattering  of  rain,  it  came 
louder  and  louder,  and  there  was  another  (though  not  so  violent) 
rush  and  struggle  on  deck.  I  then  almost  instantly  guessed  what 
the  real  state  of  the  case  was.  A  shower  of  rain  had  come  on  sud- 
denly, and  all  had  been  hurrying  for  shelter,  and  trying  to  shield 
themselves  in  various  ways  from  its  pitiless  pouring.  This,  in 
fact,  was  the  real  truth,  thank  Heaven !  and  I  do  not  think  the 
idea  of  lynching  had  ever  been  seriously  entertained. 

A  little  while  before  we  arrived  at  Chagres,  the  bustle  and 
stir  in  the  ship  were  prodigious  ;  and  I  am  sorry  to  say,  the  cap- 
tain was  taken  very  ill,  and  was  confined  to  his  cabin  part  of  the 
day.  At  last  Chagres  came  in  view,  and  before  long,  the  hubbub 
in  the  steamer  became  more  "  fast  and  furious."  Every  body 
wanted  their  trunks  and  portmanteaus,  and  every  body  in  their 

M* 


274  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

hurry,  got  hold  of  some  body  else's.  My  poor  stout  friend,  who 
seemed  in  the  greatest  and  most  imminent  danger  of  melting  away 
altogether  in  the  heat,  and  whom  I  shall  call  Arethusa,  was 
minus  a  large  trunk,  which  seemed  to  be  all  the  world  to  her.  Her 
patience  and  good-humor  were  inexhaustible,  but  she  was  evident- 
ly in  deep  perturbation  about  it.  She  described  it  in  a  panting, 
breathless  "hue  and  cry,"  de  vive  voix — "it  might  be  knoAvn 
among  a  million  ;"  it  was  a  veteran  trunk,  covered  with  conspic- 
uous scars,  each  well  patched  over  with  tin  ;  its  shape  and  size, 
too,  were  particular.  Every  sort  and  kind  of  trunk,  case,  box,  &c. 
came  up  but  that.  Every  body  seemed  to  feel  for,  and  with  her, 
she  was  so  good-natured,  gentle,  and  amiable. 

The  poor  lady  fanned  away,  almost  frowned,  and  watched  that 
yawning  grave,  the  hold,"*disgorge  from  its  capacious  maw,  legions 
of  boxes,  chests,  and  packing-cases,  till  even  half  a  forest  of  trees 
appeared  to  view — an  American  Birnam  wood  on  the  route  to 
California.  (Perhaps  the  transplanter  imagines  that  these  trees 
in  their  new  soil,  will  produce  fruits  of  gold,  and  that  he  will  have 
a  true  Hesperides  there).  The  anxious  Arethusa,  almost  in  de- 
spair, called  "  Hold,  enough!"  At  last  there  were  some  tidings  of 
the  missing  trunk  having  been  seen  somewhere,  and  the  poor 
lady  breathed  again — by  the  help  of  her  faithful  fan. 

The  rush  into  the  different  boats,  canoes,  and  dug-outs  that 
were  ready  to  convey  passengers  to  the  shore,  which  was  about  a 
mile  oft'  was  tremendous  ;  each  was  anxious  to  get  the  first  canoe 
at  reasonable  prices,  and  for  a  short  time,  the  scene  beggared  all 
description.  We  looked  on  at  the  little  civil  war  that  was  raging, 
in  peace,  from  our  cabin  windows,  and  I  was  very  glad  to  take  the 
advice  the  captain  sent  me,  to  remain  quietly  till  the  afternoon, 
when  the  bustle  and  confusion  would  be  over.  I  had  a  letter  from 

Messrs.  at  Havana,  to  Seonr  ,  requesting  him  to  see 

that  every  thing  was  arranged  satisfactorily  for  us,  and  to  engage 

a  canoe  for  us,  &c.  Mrs.  H d  was  so  kind  as  to  take  charge 

of  this  note  for  me,  and  as  without  loss  of  time  she  had  gone  on 
shore  with  her  friends,  I  had  no  fear  but  that  we  should  have  a 
good  canoe  secured  for  us. 

In  the  afternoon  the  captain  was  good  enough,  ill  as  he  was,  to 
come  to  the  ladies'  saloon  to  take  leave  of  us,  arid  give  us  all  the 
advice  he  could  respecting  the  journey  across  the  Isthmus,  which 
he  was  well  acquainted  with,  having  very  lately  gone  over  it.  It 
is  impossible  for  any  one  to  have  been  more  courteous  and  obliging 
than  the  distinguished  commander  of  that  leviathan  steamer  was, 


THE  BAR  OF  CHAGRES.  275 

and  his  counsel  was  invaluable  to  us.  He  took  care  that  we 
should  have  a  most  commodious  and  safe  boat  to  take  us  on  shore, 
and  sent  an  officer  with  us,  to  see  us  established  in  comfortable 
quarters,  till  the  canoe  should  be  ready,  on  the  following  morning, 
to  proceed  with  us  to  Gorgona  or  Cruces. 

Truly  grateful  for  all  his  solicitude  and  attention,  we  took 
leave  of  him  with  the  most  sincere  wishes  for  his  restoration  to 
health.  I  have  before  this  been  convinced,  that  no  manners  on 
earth  can  be  more  thoroughly  distinguished,  noble,  and  gracefully 
polished  than  those  of  a  high-bred  American  gentleman ;  nay,  I 
doubt  whether  any  can  quite  equal  them,  except  some  of  our  own 
gentlemen — it  is  the  truth,  and  therefore  I  will  say  it.  I  never 
saw  a  truer  exemplification  of  this,  than  in  the  gentleman  I  have 
just  spoken  of. 

There  is  no  shelter  at  Chagres  whatever  for  ships,  and  when 
the  sea  is  at  all  agitated,  the  communication  with  the  shore  must 
be  exceedingly  difficult  and  perilous  :  there  is  an  extremely  danger- 
ous bar  with  but  little  depth  of  water. 

Our  boat  rejoiced  in  the  name  of  "  Jenny  Lind,"  and  the  pro- 
prietor of  it,  an  American,  Captain  Taylor,  who  is  settled  at 
Chagres,  and  owns  a  goodly  number  of  boats,  which  ply  on  the 
river  Chagres,  and  who  seemed  well-known  to  the  officer  of  the 
"  Georgia,"  who  was  with  us,  told  rne  he  was  a  relation  of  General 
Taylor,  and  that  he  had  served  through  the  whole  of  the  Mexican 
war.  When  he  found  we  had  lately  been  in  Mexico,  he  asked 
many  questions  with  great  interest  respecting  the  present  state  of 
the  country,  and  was  anxious  to  know  if  we  had  seen  different 
battle-fields  in  which  he  had  borne  part,  and  suffered,  and  which 
he  commented  on  with  much  animation. 

When  we  reached  the  landing-place,  we  found  it  a  matter  of 
difficulty  to  transfer  ourselves  from  the  boat  to  the  shore  :  there 
was  a  huge  quantity  of  slimy  alluvial  mud  to  be  traversed,  with 
nothing  but  the  rudest  and  most  distant  apology  for  a  wooden  pier, 
consisting  of  a  few  half-rotten  planks  laid  on  some  stakes.  It  was 
not  without  some  exertion  that  we  scrambled  on  to  the  solid 
ground. 

Mr. then  accompanied  us  to  the  abode  of  Senor ,  as 

I  was  anxious  to  know  if  the  letter  had  been  received,  and  a 

cayuca  secured.  Senor was  away,  "up  on  the  hill,"  said 

some  of  the  retainers,  with  the  characteristic  laziness  and  noncJia- 
lance  of  the  natives.  When  would  he  be  back  ?  "  Quien  sabe  1" 
At  length,  however,  we  found  a  more  intelligent  Grenadian,  who 


276  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

told  us  the  letter  had  been  received  at  the  house,  in  the  absence 

of  Senor  R ,  agent  for  the  Royal  Mail  Steam  Company,  and 

that  it  was  awaiting  his  return,  which  would  probably  take  place 
very  soon.  This  civilized  being  then  begged  we  would  accept  a 
seat  while  measures  were  taken  for  securing  us  a  comfortable 
domicile  for  the  night. 

The  officer  of  the  "  Georgia,"  whom  I  before  mentioned,  imme- 
diately went  over  to  what  is  called  the  American  town,  where 
almost  all  the  Americans  take  up  their  abode,  and  where,  I  hear, 
there  are  some  very  fair  hotels  (one  called  the  "  Crescent  City 
Hotel")  but  before  long  he  returned,  and  strongly  recommended 
us  to  remain  in  the  native  town,  as,  contrary  to  expectation,  many 
of  the  lately  arrived  travelers,  having  been  totally  unable  to  provide 
themselves  with  cayucas,  in  consequence  of  the  immense  demand, 
were  imperatively  compelled  to  wait  till  the  morning's  dawn  at 
Chagres.  All  the  best  accommodations  were  consequently  engaged. 

In  the  mean  time,  Senor returned  from  his  excursion,  and 

after  reading  the  letter  from  Havana,  entreated  us  to  remain  there, 
instead  of  attempting  to  go  to  the  American  town,  and  it  was 
finally  arranged  we  should  do  so.  A  capital  room  was  given  us, 
and  one  for  the  two  maids  close  by  :  wre  had  our  own  provisions, 
and  therefore  required  but  very  little.  Our  apartment  was  charm- 
ingly cool.  We  had  to  ascend  by  a  ladder  to  it ;  but  once  there, 
it-  was  very  pleasant :  two  large  windows  without  glass,  but  with 
shutters,  admitted  a  delightful  current  of  fresh  air.  This  large 
airy  apartment  was  open  to  the  roof,  which  towered  at  a  great 
height  above  us,  and  there  was  on  one  side  only  a  sort  of  high 
parapet  wall.  Ours  seemed  to  be  the  only  room  on  that  floor ;  we 
had  thus  the  view  of  the  whole  of  the  enormous  and  lofty  thatched 
roof,  and  if  we  leaned  over  the  wooden  parapet,  that  of  an  immense 
space,  something  like  a  great  warehouse,  filled  with  a  heterogeneous 
assemblage  of  countless  articles,  while  on  a  sort  of  gallery  inside, 
that  ran  partly  round  the  walls,  were  festooned  strings  of  onions, 
whose  fragrance  would  have  been  rather  overpowering  to  our 
olfactory  nerves,  but  for  the  quantity  of  fresh  air  that  circulated 
through  the  large  rambling  building. 

By  the  way,  Senor told  me  a  dreadful  fire  had  lately  con- 
sumed a  fine  house  he  possessed  here,  and  which  he  had  occupied 
only  a  short  time  previous  to  our  visit.  We  saw  from  our  windows 
the  blackened  remains  of  this  mansion,  which  had  all  the  appear- 
ance of  having  been  very  extensive,  and  part  of  the  crowded  heaps 
that  encumbered  the  clay  floor  of  the  building  we  were  in,  was 


APARTMENTS  AT  SENOR  'S  277 

the  rescued  but  injured  furniture  belonging  to  it.  Senior told 

us  he  had  quite  lately  also  lost  his  father,  and  a  child,  and  that  his 
wife  was  ill.  Under  these  circumstances  I  felt  loth  to  stay,  but  he 
insisted  on  our  so  doing. 

There  were  two  little  couch-like  beds  in.  our  handsome  loft,  with 
pretty  pillows  covered  with  muslin,  and  trimmed  with  lace  :  some 
very  good-natured  smiling  mahogany- colored  damsels  came  to  offer 
their  services.  I  thought  they  were  domestics  belonging  to  the 
establishment,  but  found  afterward  they  were  relations  of  either 

Senor  or  Senora  R .  They  took  our  chocolate  to  prepare,  and 

soon  returned  with  cups,  &c.,  and  the  chocolate  hot  and  foaming, 
of  which  we  partook,  and  in  a  little  while  we  went  to  rest. 

I  have  as  yet  said  nothing  of  the  appearance  of  this  much-vitu- 
perated, and  I  think  often  misrepresented  place.  Of  course  the 
ground  is  low,  immediately  on  the  river ;  but  at  a  little  distance 
beyond,  it  gradually  rises  till  it  presents  the  appearance  of  pictur- 
esque and  beautiful  wooded  hills,  giving  a  romantic  variety  to  the 
scene.  Certainly,  where  the  Americans  have  betaken  themselves, 
there  is  a  low  and  marshy  flat,  that  in  the  rainy  season  (which 
lasts  here  about  ten  months !)  must  be  a  sea  of  mud :  it  is  said  by 
the  Americans,  that  the  summits  of  the  highest  hills  afford  hardly 
any  security  against  mud,  at  that  extraordinarily  "juicy  season." 

There  is  only  one  church  at  Chagres — of  course  a  Catholic  one 
— and  in  its  construction  it  is  as  unpretending  as  the  bamboo 
houses  of  the  people.  These  houses,  which  are  nearly  as  light  as 
so  many  balloons,  mostly  consist  of  bamboo  canes,  which  are 
thonged  and  fastened  to  some  slight  frame- work  of  more  substantial 
timber,  all  covered  over  with  the  leaves  or  the  limbs  of  the  cabbage 
palm,  or  the  cocoa-nut.  They  have  no  chimney  at  all.  They  all 
assume  to  a  foreign  eye  a  very  strange  and  fantastical,  but  I  think 
picturesque  appearance. 

The  town  proper — the  Chagres  of  the  natives — lies  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  river  Chagres,  about  a  hundred  yards  or  so 
from  the  open  sea,  and  contains  about  a  hundred  of  these  huts, 
screened  by  their  profuse  coverings  of  palm  leaves.  A  sudden 
bend  in  the  river  and  a  tongue  of  land  running  out  into  the  sea, 
have  caused  the  town  to  assume  the  shape  of  a  semi-crescent,  and 
the  former  almost  entirely  vails  it  from  view  as  you  enter  the 
mouth  of  the  river.  On  this  point  of  land  stands  the  fine  old 
castle  of  San  Lorenzo,  built  by  the  conquering  Spaniards,  and  in 
olden  days  stormed  by  the  celebrated  and  oft  successful  buccaneer 
Morgan,  who  scaled  it  and  leveled  it,  after  a  conflict,  in  which  all 


27S  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

but  thirty-three  out  of  three  hundred  and  sixteen  defenders  were 
killed. 

This  fort  in  the  time  of  its  strength  commanded  the  entrance  to 
the  river  and  the  town,  arid  to  all  appearance  ought  to  have  en- 
tirely locked  up  the  Isthmus  from  an  invading  enemy.  It  must 
have  been  a  majestic  castle  before  it  sank  into  the  melancholy 
state  of  ruin  and  neglect  in  which  we  now  beheld  it.  It  still 
bears  the  outward  show  of  great  strength  and  extreme  durability ; 
and  if  it  should  ever  fall  into  the  energetic  hands  of  our  noble 
transatlantic  brothers,  it  is  still  susceptible  of  being  made  an  ex- 
ceedingly strong  and  important  post.  It  is  surrounded  by  high 
ramparts  in  which  are  mounted  perhaps  nearly  thirty  brass  guns ; 
there  are  bomb-proof  casemates,  and  capacious  store-houses,  large 
enough  to  store  provisions  for  the  garrison,  which  might  last  them 
for  a  long  space  of  time.  But  on  whatever  side  you  look,  Time, 
the  conqueror's  conqueror,  seems  to  reign  triumphant :  every  where 
his  obliterating  foot-marks  are  to  be  seen,  and  the  castle  seems  a 
morunful  mockery  of  its  former  stately  self. 

The  precipitously  steep  and  inaccessible  rock  protects  it  from  all 
assault  on  every  side  but  one,  and  on  that  it  is  guarded  by  an  out- 
work flanked  by  tottering  towers  at  the  angles.  This  is  provided 
with  cannon,  in  a  rusty  condition  ;  indeed,  the  whole  is  in  a  dreary 
state  of  dilapidation  :  this  outwork  is  commanded  itself  by  the  in- 
terior fortifications.  What  a  contrast  it  must  present  now  to  its 
former  state  when  the  proud  Spanish  grandees  and  hidalgos  of  old 
had  rule  over  it!  The  Americans  say  this  is  entirely  owing  to 
the  indolence  and  supineness  of  the  "  blackre  publicans."  They 
seem  in  general  to  look  upon  these  as  hardly  a  degree  removed 
from  the  negroes.  Certainly  this  Castle  of  San  Lorenzo  presents 
a  truly  melancholy  appearance. 

I  am  told  the  guns,  some  of  brass,  and  others  of  iron,  instead  of 
standing  in  their  former  threatening  attitude,  have  been  allowed 
almost  to  tumble  down.  Some  of  these  guns  are  very  fine  ones ; 
a  part  of  them  bear  the  date  of  1703,  and  others  are  much  older. 
Thousands  of  pounds  of  powder  remain  in  the  magazine,  in  a 
lamentable  state  of  ruin,  and  the  magazine  is  fast  shrouding  up, 
and  destroying  in  its  decay  all  evidence  of  its  existence. 

The  castle  is  connected  with  the  before-mentioned  outwork  by 
a  drawbridge,  and  another  connects  this  with  the  approach  from 
without.  Enormous  water-tanks,  guns,  powder,. balls,  stores,  and 
every  thing  necessary  during  a  long  siege,  indeed,  are  there  to  be 
found,  except  provisions,  and  these  doubtless  have  long  ago  been 


CASTLE  OF  SAN  LORENZO.  279 

appropriated  and  dispatched  by  the  natives,  rendered  indolent  by 
their  climate,  and  apt  to  depend  almost  entirely  upon  the  abundant 
yield  of  tropical  productions  for  their  livelihood.  The  crumbling 
walls  of  this  once  stately  stronghold  seem  now  to  be  the  favorite 
promenade,  the  chosen  "  Alameda"  for  the  agile  wild  goat,  and 
that  scavenger-general  (in  these  parts  of  the  world),  the  unpre- 
possessing buzzard. 

Notwithstanding  the  state  of  neglect  in  which  it  is  now,  it  is 
easy  to  imagine  that  this  fortress  was  formerly  (as  it  is  said  to 
have  been)  one  of  the  strongest  erected  by  the  Spaniards  along 
the  whole  of  their  coast ;  for  it  still  bears  striking  witness  to  this 
fact,  despite  of  its  ruined  entrenchments  and  its  rusty  guns,  its 
dilapidated  watch-towers,  its  tottering  walls,  its  crumbling  battle- 
ments, decayed  magazines,  and  damaged  powder. 

At  some  distance  from  the  works  stands  a  detached  battery,  on 
the  height  which  commands  the  town  and  river  of  Chagres,  but  it 
is  destitute  of  communication  with  the  castle.  Some  superannu- 
ated-looking and  miserably  appointed  soldiers  are  to  be  seen  loiter- 
ing about  the  neglected  works.  Once  more,  what  a  change  would 
take  place  if  this  were  transferred  to  the  hands  of  the  Americans — 
what  a  flourishing  city  would  shortly  be  seen  here ;  and  how 
would  this  decayed  castle  regain  all  its  pristine  power  and 
more ! 

Speaking  cosmopolitanicaHy  and  philanthropically,  I  feel  one 
ought  to  wish  the  Americans  to  take  to  themselves,  not  only  this, 
but  many  other  portions  of  this  vast  continent :  but  as  an  English 
woman,  I  suppose  I  should  not  give  utterance  to  the  wish.  Yet, 
if  all  illiberal  prejudice  and  antagonizing  influences  and  unfortu- 
nate jealousies  could  be  annihilated,  and  the  United  States  and 
England  would  fairly  go  hand-in-hand  in  the  work  of  regeneration 
— or  rather  creation — what  might  not  such  a  co-operation  effect — 
what  would,  or  could  withstand  them  ? 

But  England  is  too  calculating  ;  beginning  now — not  to  decline, 
I  do  not  think  or  believe  that — but  to  lose  some  portion  of  that 
vigorous  and  restless  energy,  which  must  advance — and  to  be  more 
anxious  about  retaining  than  gaining ;  and  her  object  is,  perhaps, 
yet  more  to  check  and  interdict  others  from  snatching  at  coveted 
prizes,  than  to  seize  them  herself.  But  if  this  policy  should  become 
habitually  hers,  it  will  ultimately  prove  vain — the  Americans  will 
eventually  triumph ;  and  if  they  are  wise  and  liberal  themselves, 
and  allow  the  Ibrms  of  government  under  their  general  sway  to  be 
adapted  to  the  nature  and  habits  of  the  different  people,  they  will 


280  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

yet  rule  and  govern  all  this  hemisphere  at  least !  But  this  is  not 
a  subject  to  be  superficially  treated. 

As  to  the  population  of  the  town  of  Chagres,  I  suppose  the  per- 
manent inhabitants  may  number  about  three  hundred — nearly  all 
of  these  are  black,  or,  at  least,  of  the  very  blackest  bronze  it  is 
possible  to  imagine.  We  were  much  amused  in  watching  some 
of  these  people,  especially  the  women,  whose  costume  (and  par- 
ticularly their  coiffure)  is  very  unique.  Their  jet  black,  strong, 
coarse  hair  is  sometimes  made  to  stand  out  on  each  side  of  theic 
heads,  like  huge  heavy  black  wings,  frizzled  to  the  last  degree  : 
one  .would  almost  think  the  great  vultures,  besides  being  scaven- 
gers, are  the  fashionable  hairdressers  here.  The  ladies  have,  a 
cigarito  occasionally  in  their  mouths,  and  sometimes  behind  their 
ears,  ready  for  use  :  a  little  cotton  drapery  completed  their  cos- 
tume. Crowds  of  children,  looking  like  little  Chinese  idols,  and 
not  at  all  remarkable  for  symmetry  of  shape,  having  rather  a  drop- 
sical appearance,  rolled  about  in  the  sun  till  one  thought  they  must 
be  baked  to  dumplings. 

•  Every  now  and  then  some  California-bound  Americans  would 
make  their  appearance  among  these  sauntering  groups.  It  would 
be  impossible  to  imagine  any  human  beings  more  the  moral  anti- 
podes of  each  other  than  the  eager,  bustling,  rapid,  impatient 
Yankees,  and  these  quiet,  peaceable,  deliberate,  and  inanimate 
natives.  It  is  said,  however,  when  roused  or  irritated,  they  can 
be  energetic,  and  as  brave  as  lions. 

The  Californians  are  wildly  impatient  to  get  on  to  their  destina- 
tion, and  afraid  of  missing  the  next  steamer  to  San  Francisco. 
They  are  almost  always  to  be  seen  impetuously  gesticulating,  im- 
ploring, threatening,  or  encouraging  the  lounging  boatmen,  who 
are  employed  generally  unconcernedly  re-thatching  with  split  palm- 
leaves  the  awnings  or  coverings  of  their  primitively-fashioned  ca- 
noes. These  boats  were  to  be  seen  the  preceding  day  by  hundreds 
beached  on  the  oozy  mud,  and  made  fast  to  stakes  or  pegs  in  front 
of  the  habitations  of  the  various  proprietors.  On  the  second  day, 
comparatively  few  were  left,  and  for  those  few  large  prices  are 
naturally  demanded.  All  who  were  able  seem  willing  to  close 
with  any  terms  ;  but  those  who  were  not,  were  of  course  earnestly 
remonstrating  and  arguing  the  point,  and  the  vociferations  and 
gesticulations  were  all  in  italics. 

For  our  canoe,  which  underwent  a  lengthened  course  of  prepara- 
tion and  re-thatching,  I  found  I  should  have  to  pay  seventy  dollars. 
This  was  engaged  to  take  us  to  Gorgona,  and  I  paid  to  Senor 


START  FOR  GORGONA.  281 

R forty  dollars  more,  for  a  respectable  person  to  go  with  us, 

as  far  as  that  place,  who  understood  the  habits  of  the  natives,  and 
the  best  places  for  stopping  at,  and  who  also  would  engage  mules 
for  us  there.  We  waited  hour  after  hour  in  vain  expectation  for 
our  boat,  with  our  bonnets  on  ;  fortunately  the  day  was  not  very 
sultry.  As  to  the  swamps  we  had  heard  so  much  of,  where  we 
were  we  saw  nothing  of  them,  and  while  thus  waiting  we  sate  at 
an  open  window  in  our  cool,  lofty  apartment,  inhaling  a  deliciously 
fresh  breeze. 

At  last,  to  our  joy,  the  thatching  was  pronounced  complete,  and 
we  sallied  forth,  expecting  to  find  an  awning  of  considerable  di- 
mensions, and  of  the  most  elaborate  workmanship,  from  the  time 
that  had  been  employed  in  its  construction.  What  was  our  dis- 
may to  find  one  of  the  smallest  proportions  imaginable,  and  which 
it  was  next  to  impossible  to  crawl  under,  or  when  that  was  ac- 
complished, to  remain  beneath-  long  without  being  cramped  like 
poor  Mrs.  Noble,  in  the  cage  she  was  carried  about  in,  in  China ! 
But  no  time  was  to  be  lost,  and,  indeed,  we  were  all  impatience 
to  see  the  beautiful  Isthmus,  remembering  the  glowing  descriptions 
of  Mr.  Bayard  Taylor  and  others  of  its  extraordinary  natural  at- 
tractions. 


CHAPTER-    XXXVIII. 

The  River  Chagres— The  Boat — The  Rowers — Their  Peculiar  and  Vocifer- 
ous Songs — Gatun  and  Millaflores — Exquisite  Beauty  of  the  Scenery  on 
the  Banks  of  the  Chagres — Innumerable  Flowers  and  radiant  Birds — 
Strange  and  Prodigal  Intertexture  of  Parasitical  Plants — Enormous  and 
brilliant  Butterflies — Las  dos  Hermanas — Accommodations  at  that  Place 
— The  Hostess  and  her  adopted  Daughter — Americans  bound  for  Califor- 
nia— Scenery  during  the  Progress  of  the  Voyage — San  Pablo — An  Acci- 
dent— The  Lady  with  her  immense  Coiffure — Monte  Carabali — Arrival  at 
Gorgona. 

OURS  was  a  light  and  graceful-looking  craft,  and  we  soon  dis- 
covered she  was  one  of  the  speediest  on  the  river. 

After  taking  leave  of  Senor  R ,  we  shot  off  at  a  merry  pace, 

sitting  under  parasols  and  umbrellas  and  vails,  which  tolerably 
screened  us  from  the  burning  sun,  and  taking  it  by  turns  every 
now  and  then  to  squeeze  ourselves  under  the  apology  for  an  awn- 
ing, where  we  found  it  comparatively  cool,  but,  from  the  neces- 
sarily cramped  position  which  one  had  to  maintain,  it  was  not  so 


282  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

pleasant  otherwise  as  the  outside.  We  had  no  seats  but  our 
trunks ;  however,  the  boat  progressing  rapidly,  soon  bore  us  into 
scenes  of  such  incredible  enchantment  and  beauty,  that  all  minor 
inconveniences  were  pretty  well  forgotten.  We  seemed  trans- 
ported to  a  new  world — all  was  so  indescribably  wild  and  beaute- 
ous around  us.  The  astonishing  excess  and  superabundance  of  the 
gorgeous  chaos  of  vegetation  on  all  sides,  even  outdid  that  of  the 
Tierra  Caliente  of  Mexico,  and  it  is  difficult  to  say  more.  •  •  t 

The  sun  raged  like  a  blazing  tempest  overhead,  pouring  down 
cataracts  of  golden  flame,  as  it  were,  over  all  these  matted  masses 
of  flowery  and  leafy  luxuriance,  without  being  able  to  penetrate 
their  dense  and  intricate  foldings.  Our  native  rowers  plied  their 
broad  paddles  vigorously  and  swiftly,  singing  incessantly,  and  some- 
times scre'eching  like  a  whole  flock  of  peacocks,  with  a  hundred- 
horse  power  of  lungs,  Indian  songs,  with  Spanish  words ;  one  of 
which  songs  was  rather  remarkable,  inasmuch  as,  instead  of  being, 
as  usual,  full  of  the  praises  of  some  chosen  fair,  it  was  nothing  but 
a  string  of  commendations  on  the  beauty  and  grace  of  the  singer. 
"  I  have  a  beautiful  face,"  "  I  am  very  beautiful,"  &c. 

When  we  passed  any  boat — and  in  our  flying  craft,  with  our 
light  luggage,  we  shot  by  immense  numbers — the  yells  of  triumph, 
I  suppose,  of  our  boatmen,  arid  a  sort  of  captain  they  had  (who 
was  clad  in  very  gay-colored  garments  with  a  splendid  scarlet  scarf 
or  sash  to  denote  his  rank,  I  conjecture)  were  literally  almost  deaf- 
ening, and  the  beaten  rowers  were  not  slow  to  answer  them,  with 
shouts  and  shrieks  of  merry  defiance,  reproach,  or  mockery.  It 
seemed  to  me  on  these  occasions  they  interrupted  the  usual  tenor 
of  their  songs,  and  entered  mutually  into  a  marvelously  rapid  im- 
promptu description  of  their  respective  passengers,  of  their  country, 
and  their  destination.  Each  sentence  ended  with  an  unearthly 
yell,  that  might  have  frightened  all  the  furies,  and  quite  electrified 
the  lazy  caymans  that  we  saw  taking  their  after-dinner  nap  in  the 
ooze,  as  we  darted  by  them. 

On  these  occasions,  Senior 's  respectable  colored  clerk,  in- 
spired by  the  ear-piercing  strains,  joined  with  all  his  might  and 
main;  and  I  am  not  sure  his  respectabilityship  did  not  make  the 
most  noise  of  all,  or  at  any  rate,  the  most  delirious  attempts  so 
to  do.  The  extraordinarily  rapid  powers  of  utterance  of  these 
wild  men  of  the  wood  and  the  water,  would  have  astounded  Mr. 
Charles  Mathews  himself.  Such  a  volley  of  volubility,  I  think, 
I  never  heard — it  was  the  most  distracting,  bewildering,  vocal 
velocity  conceivable. 


GATUN  AND  MILLAFLORES.  283 

But  they  did  not  neglect  their  rowing  for  their  singing.  We 
sped  on  wondrously,  and  many  an  American  who  had  started  long 
before  us,  but  was  dragging  along  iu  a  heavily-laden  canoe,  or 
clumsily-built  dug-out,  looked  with  envy  on  our  little  light  craft. 
"  Wai,  now,"  I  heard  one  cry  out,  lugubriously,  with  a  melan- 
choly shake  of  the  head  to  his  companions,  "  we  did  ought  to  have 
had  that  boat ;  that's  a  fact."  Poor  people,  they  were  in  a  lum- 
bering, huge  canoe,  that  crawled  and  crept  along  at  a  snail-like 
pace,  but  then  they  had  vast  piles  of  luggage,  which  would  have 
swamped  our  little  cayuca  in  no  time. 

From  the  intense  heat  we  soon  became  very  thirsty,  and  were 
going  to  dip  our  calabashes  in  the  water  and  drink,  when  we  were 
.stopped  by  our  black  troubadours,  who  said  the  water  was  bad 
there,  and  we  must  wait  for  some  little  time  till  it  was  sweet  and 
good.  However,  they  soon  stopped  where  there  was  a  hut  or  two, 
and  got  us  a  couple  of  calabashes  full  of  wholesome  water  from  a 
spring.  A  poor  anatomy  of  a  dog  came  limping  toward  us,  look- 
ing imploringly  for  something  to  eat ;  he  was  quite  a  squellette 
vivante,  and  fell  upon  some  biscuit  we  threw  him  with  the  great- 
est avidity.  As  to  us,  we  fell  upon  the  water  almost  as  eagerly. 

Gatun  was  the  first  settlement  we  stopped  at :  it  was  a  miser- 
able assemblage  of  cane  hovels.  Here  our  rowers  rested  awhile, 
and  then  went  on  to  Millaflores,  which  name  suits  the  scenery  all 
along  this  miraculous  river.  I  have  said  little  about  it  yet,  but 
be  prepared,  reader,  for  a  great  deal  of  garrulity  on  this  never- 
ending  ever-beginning  topic.  Oh,  what  magnificence  of  Nature  ! 
What  overpowering  and  ineffable  glory  of  magnificence !  Your 
very  thoughts  seemed  crushed  beneath  a  M'helming  weight  of 
splendor.  All  we  could  do  was  to  stare  and  gaze,  and  utter  broken, 
exclamations  of  ecstasy.  What  a  maze  and  mystery  of  unspeak- 
ble  loveliness  it  was !  the  soaring  hills  of  all  imaginable  shapes, 
bathed  and  buried  iu  beauty,  and  crowned  with  majestically-lux- 
uriant woods  to  their  very  topmost  summits.  And  such  woods  \ 
it  was  a  perfect  blaze  of  vegetation,  bewildering  and  half  blind- 
ing one. 

The  gorgeous  countlessly-variegated  trees  of  those  woods  were 
literally  swathed  and  draperied  over  with  dazzling  scarlet  and 
gold,  the  most  vivid  and  refulgent !  This,  1  believe,  was 'occa- 
sioned by  the  innumerable  multitudes  of  orchideous,  and  other 
parasitical  plants,  especially  the  former,  which  flash  and  glow 
with  the  most  resplendent  and  glorious  colors,  and  wreathe  and 
wind  around  the  highest  tops  of  the  gigantic  trees,  completely 


234  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

covering  them  with  showery  vails  and  lustrous  canopies  of  flowers, 
crimson,  purple,  intense  scarlet,  gold,  blue,  and  all  conceivable 
and  inconceivable  colors.  Earth  seems  like  a  sun — a  living  sun 
— sparkling  and  quivering  with  all  the  beauties  of  the  whole 
creation. 

I  never  imagined  any  thing  so  lovely  as  the  exceeding  super- 
fluity of  the  blooms  and  foliage,  and  verdure  here.  As  to  de- 
scribing it  soberly,  it  is  impossible.  The  enormous  variety  and 
inconceivable  profusion  of  queenly  palms  was  beautiful  beyond 
expression.  And  then  such  birds  !  like  flying  bouquets  of  jewels, 
or  rainbows,  on  wings,  painting  the  fervid  sunshine  around  them 
ten  thousand  colors  :  and  in  the  evening  the  fire-flies  made  a  most 
magnificent  and  tremulously-stirring  illumination,  till  all  life  seem- 
ed light,  and  all  light  life.  As  to  the  stars  overhead,  they  shone 
out  like  little  suns. 

The  river  Chagres  itself  is  beautiful  :  it  winds  and  twists  about 
like  a  brilliant  serpent,  most  gracefully  and  changefully.  The 
prodigious  masses  of  vegetation  pour  down  upon  it,  and  seem  as 
if  they  flung  their  glittering  many-colored  chains  on  its  bright 
waters  to  arrest  its  progress.  In  many  places,  enormous  curtains 
and  thickly-woven  tapestries  of  foliage  swept  down,  broidered  and 
blazoned  all  over  with  sumptuous  blooms,  into  the  blue  water ; 
and  in  other  parts  the  most  fantastically-variegated  and  fairy-like 
garlands,  festoons,  and  streamers  quivered  just  over  its  surface, 
reflected  therein  in  all  their  beauty.  Wherever  you  turned,  there 
was  a  sweeping,  heaving,  and  gorgeous  ocean  of  flowers  and  foliage ; 
wherever  you  caught  a  passing  glimpse  of  the  inner  depths  of  this 
world-within-world  of  beauty  and  glory,  you  saw  wildernesses  of 
creepers  and  parasites,  in  thousands  of  mazes  and  convolutions. 

Some  of  the  latter  flowers,  on  these  blossom-embroidered  banks, 
had  a  most  marvelous  eflect,  apparently  "  doing  business  on  their 
own  hook  ;"  for  they  seemed  to  be  standing  alone  perfectly  inde- 
pendent of  any  support.  But  I  suspect,  in  reality,  they  were 
wreathed  and  re-wreathed,  and  piled  and  crowded  over  and  around 
some  irregular  stumps  of  old  trees,  or  chance  block  of  stone — but 
in  such  unimaginable  and  luxuriant  profusion  that  they  often 
formed  as  it  were,  enormous  towers  and  gateways,  thus  standing 
by  themselves,  of  immense  thickness  and  height.  In  short,  they 
displayed  all  kinds  of  shapes,  most  fantastically  diversified  and 
varied. 

Sometimes  they  appeared  like  huge  triumphal  arches,  and  some- 
times of  slenderer  proportions,  like  soaring  Turkish  minarets ; 


BEAUTY  OF  THE  FORESTS.  285 

occasionally  like  the  domes  of  Oriental  mosques.  At  other  times, 
there  was  a  lovely  vision  of  vast  avenues  of  flower-garlanded 
bowers,  vista  beyond  vista.  In  several  places  the  sparkling  river 
was  almost  bridged  across  by  radiant  blossomy  boughs,  a  magic 
bridge  of  flowers,  and  rainbows,  and  meteors.  It  hardly  seemed 
as  if  this  abounding  wealth  and  deluge  of  blooms  could  have 
sprung  from  earth's  bosom,  but  as  if  the  very  firmaments,  "  fretted 
with  golden  fire,"  must  have  rained  down  these  superb  and  daz- 
zling splendors  from  their  own  treasure-houses  of  starry  glory,  or 
poured  part  of  themselves  away,  molten,  over  this  over-illumined 
planet. 

Through  these  gorgeous  piles  and  masses  of  luxuriance  flit  not 
only  the  many-colored  birds  I  have  mentioned,  but  colossal,  daz- 
zling, sumptuous  butterflies,  belonging  only  to  the  tropics,  and 
nearly  as  large  as  birds — go  fluttering  and  glittering  like  showers 
of  precious  stones,  tossed  about  by  invisible  genii. 

These  glorious  forests  are  so  thickly  matted  together,  that  not 
even  the  lightning  can  pierce  them.  I  have  just  been  looking  at 
my  little  companion's  description  of  the  exquisite  creepers,  and  all 
the  wondrous  effects  their  elaborate  loveliness  produces,  and  I  see 
she  likens  them  to  quite  different  objects  to  what  I  have  done  : 
but  such  is  their  apparently  inexhaustible  profusion  and  pomp, 
and  prodigality  of  growth,  and  variety  of  form  that  a  hundred 
people  might  very  probably  describe  them  all  differently.  I  think 
/  was  most  struck  with  the  extraordinary  triumphal  arches  and 
columns  and  castellated  towers  that  they  formed  so  exquisitely  in 
their  spontaneous,  enchanted,  flowery  architecture,  and  she  with 
the  way  in  which  they  almost  smothered  the  loftiest  palms  with 
their  brilliant  shrouds  of  colored  light,  and  streaming  festoons  and 
coronals,  and  then  continually  passed  on  to  others,  linking  them 
together  in  beauty  and  enchantment. 

We  saw  a  good  many  Americans  camping  at  a  place,  whose 
name  I  do  not  remember.  The  current  began  to  run  very  strong, 
but  our  light  boat  still  got  on  pretty  fast.  At  last  the  rowers 
seemed  to  become  exhausted,  and  it  was  late  in  the  evening  when 
we  arrived  at  a  settlement  called  Las  dos  Hcrmanas. 

It  consists  of  a  small  number  of  straggling  scattered  huts,  built 
on  a  brow  of  a  headland  that  overhangs  the  stream  just  where  the 

river  takes  a  considerable  sweep.  Seiior  R 's  lieutenant  went 

on  shore  immediately  to  get  us  as  good  accommodations  as  the 
place  afforded,  and  we  were  soon  ushered  into  an  Indian  hut,  of 
which  the  proprietress  was  one  of  the  most  obliging  and  kind- 


286  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA,  % 

hearted  beings  in  the  world.  She  showed  us  into  a  very  comfort- 
able room  (always  considering  what  Isthmus  accommodations 
generally  are  said  to  be).  The  bamboo  walls  she  proceeded  very 
expeditiously  and  neatly  to  cover  over  with  thick  mats  and  hides, 
and  a  delightful  little  tent-like  apartment  she  made  of  it. 

She  was  accompanied  by  a  smiling  girl,  who,  she  said,  was  her 
adopted  daughter,  and  that  her  name  was  Pantaleone.  Her  own 
name,  she  told  us,  was  Arquellina ;  so  I  could  not  but  call  them 
Harlequin  and  Pantaloon.  Poor  Harlequin  was  of  a  preposterous 
size,  though  amazingly  active ;  Pantaloon  did  all  the  staring  for 
her,  and  after  we  were  gone,  I  think  could  have  described  us 
accurately  enough  for  the  "  Hue-and-Cry"  at  least. 

I  can  not  agree  with  the  Americans  about  the  natives.  Not 
only  here  but  almost  every  where  else,  we  found  them  most  good- 
natured,  kind,  inoffensive,  and  hospitable  people.  They  are  natu- 
rally slow,  but  with  a  little  humoring,  and  good-tempered  banter- 
ing, or  gentle  beseeching,  they  will  make  all  the  haste  they  can. 
For  instance,  the  way  in  which  our  unwieldy  Harlequin  bustled  and 
ran  about  for  us  was  "  a  caution."  She  puffed  and  panted  with  the 
unwonted  exertion,  but  looked  the  very  picture  of  good-humor  all  the 
time.  In  fact,  she  seemed  to  grudge  no  trouble  to  make  her  foreign 
guests  as  comfortable  as  possible.  She  gave  up  a  very  snug  room 
close  to  ours  for  ihefemmes  de  chambre,  with  two  good  hammocks  in 
it ;  then  she  cooked  our  provisions  for  us  capitally,  and,  till  we  re- 
tired for  the  night,  kept  up  an  incessant  chattering,  in  which  was 
mingled  many  an  expression  of  kindly  welcome  and  good-will. 

In  short,  she  was  the  very  best  Harlequin  in  the  world,  not  as ' 
regards  rapidity  and  lightness  of  motion  certainly,  but  in  more 
solid  qualities  ;  and  after  she  had  affectionately  bade  us  good-night, 
I  looked  forward  to  a  very  sound  sleep  on  the  little  couch  she  had 
so  carefully  prepared.  But  in  that  I  was  disappointed.  Quanti- 
ties of  insects,  chiefly  ants,  that  appeared  without  end,  tormented 
me  the  whole  night,  and  it  was  only  just  at  break  of  day  that  I 
fell  into  a  little  doze — (V happily  slept  well) ;  but  when  morn- 
ing dawned  it  was  time  to  start,  and  after  repeated  rappings  at 
the  barricaded  outside  door,  that  would  not  have  disgraced  May 
Fair  or  Belgravia,  and  confused  cries  heard  without,  of  cs  muy 
tarde,  and  ya  es  Jwra  de  levantarse,  we  got  up,  and  fat  Harlequin 
busied  herself  in  preparing  our  desayuno,  and  brought  us  a  deli- 
cious bowl  of  milk,  which  was  very  welcome  and  refreshing. 

When  I  asked  her  what  there  was  to  pay,  "  Nothing,"  she 
said,  "  Nada,  nada."  I  told  her  that  was  quite  out  of  the  ques- 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  VOYAGE.  287 . 

tion  ;  and  after  a  little  amicable  altercation  on  the  subject,  sbe 
said,  whatever  little  trifle  I  liked  to  give.  I  presented  her  then 
•with  a  "gratification"  for  which  she  thanked  me  heartily,  and 
insisted  on  accompanying  us  down  the  steep  bank  to  our  cayuca. 
This  poor,  dear,  plumpest  of  all  imaginable  Harlequins !  how  she 
waddled  along  down  the  abrupt  descent !  Once  more  I  begged 
her  not  to  trouble  herself  to  come  all  the  way,  and  she  then  took 
leave  of  us  most  kindly ;  and  so  did  Pantaloon  also,  who  was  in- 
dustriously continuing  her  occupation  of  staring,  till  her  eyes  seem- 
ed inclined  to  leave  her  head.  Her  mouth  was  wide  open  ;  and 
if  she  had  partaken  of  the  nature  of  the  curious  air-plants  of  China 
she  would  have  thriven  much  that  morning,  I  imagine,  from  the 
quantity  of  that  element  she  must  have  imbibed. 

After  re-arranging  our  trunks  a  little,  so  as  to  make  tolerably 
comfortable  seats  (of  course  without  any  backs  to  lean  against), 
we  started,  and  waved  our  last  adieus  to  our  kind  Harlequin  and 
Pantaloon.  We  passed  numbers  of  canoes  filled  with  Americans : 
a  great  many  of  these  boats  were  manned  by  Negroes.  Some 
appeared  to  move  so  slowly,  as  to  be  almost  stationary,  others 
were  "  snagged."  Some  of  these,  it  appeared,  had  been  all  night 
on  the  river.  Our  boatmen,  like  the  rest,  had  rejected  their  broad 
paddles,  and  taken  to  palancas,  or  poles,  and  our  progress  became 
slower  and  slower.  We  ran  under  the  widely-overshadowing 
boughs  of  enormous  trees,  that  bent  their  stately  heads  over  the 
water,  and  made  perfect  tents  with  their  far-spreading  branches ; 
and  at  such  times  we  seemed  inclosed  in  a  large  hollow  sphere  of 
emerald  ;  all  looked  green  within  its  leafy  circle. 

The  current  was  exceedingly  strong,  and  many  of  the  heavily- 
freighted,  clumsy  boats  we  passed,  seemed  hopelessly  fighting  with 
it.  The  palancas  splashed  us  terribly,  and  the  boat  had  a 
quantity  of  water  in  it,  but  we  got  to  the  ranclio  of  Palo  Matida 
in  very  fair  time. 

The  water  of  the  river,  we  found,  had  long  been  sweet  and 
wholesome,  and  often  did  we  dip  our  calabashes  into  it,  and  drain 
a  refreshing  draught.  The  vocal  performances-  of  the  crew  be- 
came "  fine  by  degrees,  and  beautifully  less,"  as-  the  toil  of  poling 
against  the  rapids  grew  more  severe  :  a  doleful  quivering  drawl, 
something  like  the  tone  of  a  superannuated  parish  clerk,  took  place 
of  the  wild  shrieking  songs  that  had  made  the  woods  and  groves 
resound  the  day  before. 

Most  beautiful  was  the  scenery  still,  though  its  character  was 
gradually  becoming  altered.  The  hilly  peaks  were  higher;  at 


288  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

some  places,  from  the  highest  summits  of  the  hills  to  the  water, 
swept  down  a  perfect  cataract  of  trees — you  almost  wondered  the 
solid  hills  did  not  come  crashing  down  with  them  into  the  stream. 
They,  and  their  curtaining  superincumbent  mass  of  blossoming 
parasitical  plants,  together  with  wild  roses,  and  lilies,  and  other 
exquisite  flowers,  were  wedged  and  welded  together  in  one  heaving, 
dense,  and  almost  massive  pall  of  sheeted  tapestries.  From  this 
still,  silent,  but  glorious  cataract  of  vegetation,  shot,  here  and 
there,  what  seemed  pillars  of  quivering,  leafy,  bloomy  mist,  deli- 
cate sprays,  that  appeared  all  made  of  rainbow  and  sunshine,  and, 
in  their  turn,  these  were  diversified  and  adorned  by  stray  gauzy 
films,  and  floating  shreds  of  gossamer-resembling  and  lightning-like 
shoots,  many-colored,  and  light  as  painted  air,  glancing  like  forked 
tongues  of  serpents  on  the  sight,  and  seeming  instinct  with  life  ; 
while  with  a  rapid  darting  flight,  resplendent  butterflies,  birds, 
and  various  insects,  ruffled  their  surface. 

In  many  parts  these  huge  piles  of  vegetable  growth  looked  more 
like  thick,  hardened  incrustations  of  leaves  and  boughs,  which  no 
storm  even  could  ever  stir  or  pierce,  than  actually  growing  pro- 
ducts of  the  soil.  Altogether,  Earth's  great  heart  seemed  to  have 
overflowed  here,  and  poured  forth  all  its  hidden  treasures,  blended, 
overcrowded,  precipitated,  and  combined  into  a  rich  concentration 
of  preciousness,  without  form  or  order. 

We  passed  several  encampments  of  Americans  and  settlements 
of  the  natives  during  the  day.  Among  the  latter,  was  Pena 
Blanca,  a  small  assemblage  of  huts,  which  huts  sometimes  look 
like  immensely  tall  gawky  mushrooms,  of  most  ephemeral  construc- 
tion, apparently.  At  one  or  two  of  these  places  we  asked  in  vain 
for  a  draught  of  milk,  though  we  caught  a  glimpse,  we  thought, 
of  cows  every  now  and  then  near  the  ranchos,  tended  by  a  little 
vaquerillo.  As  we  went  on,  we  overtook  more  and  more  boats, 
till  the  river  seemed  alive  with  them.  Occasionally,  the  voyagers 
in  them  broke  out  into  a  cheery  shout  of  "  Ho  !  for  California !" 
and  sometimes  called  to  us  to  know  if  we  had  corne  in  the 
"Georgia."  Most  of  them  were  hard  at  work,  helping  their 
boatmen  to  stem  the  stream,  and  urging  them  to  go  ahead. 

We  passed  various  other  ranchos,  and  at  one  of  them  stopped 
for  some  time,  that  the  little  crew  of  the  cayuca  might  rest  and 
eat  their  dinner.  We  went  by  Agua  Salud  and  Varro  Colorado, 
and,  still  battling  vigorously  with  the  racing  current,  struggled 
past  Palanquilla,  and,  as  we  advanced,  we  saw  many  marks  of 
cultivation.  Here  and  there  were  clearings — not  very  extensive 


AN  ACCIDENT.  289 


indeed — but  enough  to  admit  of  fields  of  Indian  corn  and  arroz 
(rice),  and  plantain-walks.  There  were  some  beautifully  shaped 
hills  to  be  seen  rising  near  the  river-banks.  One  seemed  particu- 
larly high  :  it  was,  as  all  the  rest  are,  like  the  rising  sun,  steeped 
in  molten  gold,  and  panoplied  in  a  pomp  of  exuberant  growths, 
among  which  were  seen  gloriously  towering  trees,  all  over-canopied 
and  buried  under  hanging  gardens  in  the  air,  of  myriad-hued 
flowers,  quite  disturbing  the  quiet,  sultry  atmosphere  with  beauty. 
But,  partly  in  consequence  of  our  boatmen  having  spent  an  un- 
conscionable time  at  their  dinner,  partly  arising  from  our  not 
having  started  as  early  as  we  should  have  done,  owing  to  my 
extreme  sleepiness  after  the  night  of  torment  the  ants  and  mus- 
quitoes  had  given  me,  we  were  late :  the  evening  began  to  grow 
dusky,  the  splendid  living  illumination  of  fire-flies  commenced,  and 
we  were  told  it  was  necessary  to  stop  at  San  Pablo,  which  was 
not  a  very  prepossessing-looking  place. 

We  were  collecting  together  our  carpet-bags,  calabashes,  and 

lighter  luggage,  when  V forgetting  for  a  moment  how  ^easily 

these  cayucas  are  upset,  though  we  had  repeatedly  been  cautioned 
to  move  very  carefully  (and  the  boat  had  as  nearly  as  possible 
been  tilted  over  before,  and  had  been  almost  filled  with  water),* 
jumped  up  very  suddenly,  and  over  went  the  boat.  It  righted, 
however,  again  ;  but  she  fell  in  the  water,  which  was  luckily  not 
deep  there,  and,  after  a  little  delay,  she  scrambled  into  the  canoe 
again,  being  helped  by  an  American  gentleman,  who,  seeing  what 
had  happened,  instantly  rushed  to  the  spot,  and,  plunging  into  the 
water,  rescued  her.  The  danger  was  not  of  drowning,  but  of 
alligators. 

We  clambered  up  the  steep  precipitous  bank  which  led  to  the 
collection  of  hovels  called  San  Pablo,  looking  as  we  followed  the 
clerk  and  others  to  the  little  village,  like  a  damp  procession  of 
naiades  learning  to  be  amphibious — for  the  boat  had  been  com- 
pletely deluged  with  water.  The  huts  were  very  poor  ones,  but 
we  succeeded  in  getting  a  pretty  comfortable  one,  detached  from, 
the  rest,  and  where  the  good  people  lighted  us  a  fire  to  dry  our 
clothes.  We  were  very  glad  to  have  a  little  supper  after  this, 
and  disposed  ourselves  for  rest,  after  receiving  a  visit  from  the 
mistress  of  the  huts,  who  was  attired  in  a  singular  fashion.  She 
had  an  immense  shock-head  of  hair,  grizzled  till  it  seemed  powder- 

*  An  officer  of  the  English  navy,  Capt.  Foster  of  H.  M.  S.  Chanticleer, 
was  drowned  here  by  such  an  accident.  The  boat  was,  however,  of  course, 
in  the  middle  of  the  river. 

N 


290  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

ed  over,  and  like  twenty  judges'  wigs  in  one — nay,  so  enormous 
was  this  coiffure  that  it  looked  more  like  a  wigwam  than  a  wig. 
She  seemed  to  have  run  to  head  entirely. 

Two  of  us  reposed  on  buffalo  hides,  and  two  on  chairs  (I  was 
one  of  the  occupants  of  the  latter).  All  became  quiet  and  still, 
except  the  monotonous  but  pretty  cry  of  the  bird  that  repeats 
"  Bohio"  as  plainly  as  possible.  But  presently,  through  the  in- 
terstices of  the  canes,  I  thought  I  saw  a  figure  moving  stealthily 
near  our  hut.  1  looked  closer  through  the  bamboos  (ours  being  a 
hovel  of  some  architectural  pretensions,  they  were  woven  pretty 
closely  together  !)  :  certainly  an  extraordinary  form  was  creeping 
slowly  toward  us.  It  looked  like  a  haystack  stuck  on  a  pole,  or  a 
colossal  chicken-coop  hoisted  on  a  post,  and  by  some  magical 
means  perambulating  the  grounds.  However,  on  more  attentive 
inspection,  the  mystery  was  solved — it  was  the  proprietress  of  the 
huts,  in  her  curious  costume,  which  seemed  more  extraordinary 
than  ever.  Perhaps  to  scare  away  all  other  intruders,  during  the 
night,  she  had  added  to  the  formidable  dimensions  of  her  head- 
dress, where  there  seemed  really  a  rather  roomy  loft  to  let.  Her 
chevelure  stuck  out  like  a  huge  balloon  of  horse-hair  round  her 
head. 

She  crept  slowly  on  and  on,  and  pushed  at  our  fastened  door.  I 
went  and  opened  it,  and  after  some  difficulty  she  introduced  her 
vast  head,  with  all  its  outer  works,  into  the  cane  shed.  I  asked 
her  what  she  wanted  ?  "  Only  to  have  a  little  talk  !"  I  thought 
it  an  unseasonable  time,  but  did  not  like  to  say  so,  therefore  I 
answered  her  queries  as  well  as  I  could  :  "  Where  did  we  come 
from  ?  Where  were  we  going  to  ?  Did  we  like  the  Isthmus  ? 
Surely  we  would  go  on  to  California  1  All  the  estrangeras  who 
visited  the  Isthmus  always  went  to  California  !  or  perhaps  to 
Lima]  Was  this  finer  than  my  country?"  So  she  ran  on,  in  a 
•whisper,  lest  she  .should  disturb  the  sleepers  ;  and  at  length,  to  my 
great  relief,  the  balloon  slowly  rose,  not  exactly  into  the  air — I 
almost  secretly  wished  it  might  be  carried  up  into  the  clouds  ! 
However,  it  took  its  departure,  and  the  door  was  again  re-barred 
and  fastened;  and  nothing  was  heard  but  "Bohio!  bohio." 
So  I  fell  asleep,  in  peace  on  the  rickety  chair  I  had  taken  posses- 
sion of. 

In  the  morning  an  American  lady,  who  slept  in  the  other  cane 
cottage  (both  belonging  to  the  same  people,  and  like  detached 
apartments  of  the  same  house — there  were  very  likely  more  of 
them),  came  and  knocked,  and  asked  if  we  would  like  to  start 


IMMENSE  COIFFURE.  291 

with  her  and  her  party.  I  was  awake,  but  the  others  were  sleep- 
ing, and  as  I  knew  it  was  now  only  five  hours  to  Gorgona,  I 
declined,  and  wishing  her  farewell,  had  a  little  more  rest,  though 
very  soon  the  bustle  and  stir  incident  to  many  departures  from  an 
encampment  not  far  off,  and  from  the  village,  roused  me  com- 
pletely up,  and  my  companions  also.  We  made  our  arrangements 
for  starting,  and  before  long  had  a  visit  from  the  lady — the  head 
personage  in  a  double  sense,  who  appeared  to  act  the  part  only  of 
a  subordinate  appendage  to  her  own  giant  head-dress.  She 
seemed  hanging  to  it,  like  a  tiny  parachute  to  an  immense  bal- 
loon, such  as  I  have  before  mentioned.  She  came  with  many 
kind  salutations,  and  a  welcome  bowl  of  milk  in  her  hand.  But 
alas !  when  this  milk  was  tasted,  it  was  found  to  have  a  terrible 
flavor  of  the  strongest  garlic.  We  therefore  had  some  chocolate 
made,  and  soon  wers  ready  to  start. 

While  tying  on  our  bonnets,  I  was  amused  by  accidentally  hear- 
ing, a  lively  conversation,  in  Spanish,  between  two  of  the  native 
ladies,  as  to  whether  I  was  a  princess  or  a  countess  ;  one  inclined 
to  the  first,  the  other  to  the  last.  Words  ran  rather  high  ;  over 
and  over  again  was  repeated  "  Princesa — Condesa — si  no  !  si,"  &c. 
I  began  to  think  I  ought  to  enlighten  them  with  some  red-book 
explanations,  and  inform  them  I  was  not  a  princess,  though  my 
father  is  a  prince,  and  so  forth.  But  it  is  time  to  start,  and  away 
we  go,  hurrying  down  the  precipitously-abrupt  bank,  and  hastily 
taking  our  seats  in  our  cayuca,  but  not  before  one  of  the  maids 
had  received  an  invitation  from  the  lady,  not  in,  but  under  the 
balloon,  which  she  so  perseveringly  carried  about  with  her — to 
pass  her  days  with  her,  in  these  bamboo  cages  of  hers — "  Gusta  V. 
quedarse  conmigo  1"  She  received  no  answer  but  a  laugh,  not 
being  understood ;  but  when  I  translated  the  request,  an  energetic 
"  No"  was  returned,  with  an  eloquent  glance  at  the  buffalo-hides, 
and  walls  of  sticks  and  leaves.  The  good  senora  stared,  with  much 
incredulity  and  astonishment,  at  this  rejection  of  her  offer,  but  re- 
tained her  good-humor  notwithstanding. 

San  Pablo,  this  village  of  cages,  is  very  picturesquely  situated 
on  its  steep  bank.  The  beautiful  Chagres  makes  a  graceful  sweep 
and  bend  here,  and  there  is  a  clearing  behind  it  extending  to  some 
distance ;  but  this  clearing  is  not  formal  and  bare.  There  are 
lovely  groups  of  trees  left  around  the  cane-sheds  of  the  settlement, 
and  among  them  some  very  lofty  and  umbrageous  palms,  and 
acacias  of  superb  dimensions. 

The  pcdancas  were  again  in  requisition,  and  the  current  seemed 


292  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

extremely  strong.  About  midway  between  San  Pablo  and  Gorgona, 
rises  the  stately  hill,  called  Monte  Carabali :  it  is  a  towering  peak, 
and  is  said  to  be  the  only  hill  in  the  whole  province  from  whence 
both  oceans,  the  broad  Atlantic  and  the  grander  Pacific,  can  be 
beheld  at  once. 

Monte  Carabali,  like  all  the  other  heights  here,  was  enrobed 
in  the  most  effulgent  forests,  of  which  every  colossal  tree  seemed 
clad  in  a  lustrous  armor  of  precious  jewels  of  every  hue.  I  am  not 
sure  that  it  was  on  this  hill  or  another,  that  we  saw  one  gigan- 
tic tree  on  the  very  summit,  sheeted  so  with  the  most  dazzling 
profusion  of  scarlet  flowers,  that  it  looked  like  an  immense  arid 
high-soaring  obelisk  of  fire,  sending  its  intense  blaze  far  into  the 
glistening  blue  of  the  resplendent  sky,  and,  as  it  seemed,  scattering 
around  sparkles  and  sheets  of  flame.  » 

We  had  not  gone  very  far  on  that  day,  before  the  hitherto  brill- 
iantly clear  arch  above  u«,  showed  at  one  point  a  threatening 
frowning  cloud,  which  soon  sent  down  upon  us  a  tremendous 
shower.  It  appeared  as  if  millions  of  wings  were  stirring  among  the 
many-sounding  leaves  that  echoed  the  fast  thick  droppings  of  the 
rushing  rain.  Our  canoe  shot  speedily  under  the  tent-like  shelter 
of  an  enormous  tree,  and  we  crept  as  well  as  we  could  beneath  the 
ruins  of  our  awning  of  palm  leaves  which  afforded  us  still  some 
screen  against  the  storm.  In  fact,  the  tree  did  not  allow  much 
of  it  to  pass  through  its  wilderness  of  boughs  and  leaves.  Had  it 
not  been  for  my  determination  in  insisting  on  the  awning  being 
left,  we  should  not  have  had  a  shred  of  protection  remaining,  from 
it,  either  against  the  drops  (of  considerable  size,  I  assure  you)  that 
found  their  way  through  our  leafy  canopy  above,  or  against  the 
burning  sun  that  succeeded  to  the  storm. 

The  evening  before,  finding,  I  suppose,  the  awning  a  little  in 
their  way,  and  that  it  made  the  boat  somewhat  heavier,  the  head 
man  had  relentlessly  seized  it,  and  began  tearing  it  down  :  I  stopped 
these  unwarranted  proceedings,  desiring  him  in  a  rather  authorita- 
tive manner  to  desist.  He  grumbled  out  it 'was  preciso  to  get  rid 
of  it ;  I  retorted  it  was  preciso  it  should  remain.  He  then  ceased 
to  contradict,  but  not  to  claw  down  the  poor  awning.  I  called  out 
my  auxiliary  force  in  tne  shape  of  the  colored  clerk,  and  he,  after 
first  siding  with  the  enemy,  on  seeing  I  was  determined  to  cut 
down  all  who  opposed  me — of  the  aguardiente,  for  which  they 
kept  a  bright  look-out — returned  to  his  duty,  and  issued  the  most 

imperative  orders  in  my  name  and  that  of  Senor  It ,  and  of 

the  central  government  of  New  Granada  to  boot,  for  aught  I  know 


ARRIVAL  AT  GORGONA.  293 

— that  the  palm-thatch  should  be  left  intact.  But  it  stood  in  a 
tottering  and  precarious  state,  and  required  every  now  and  then 
bandaging  and  propping  up  a  little  by  a  skillful  hand. 

When  the  storm  cleared  away,  we  started  again,  and  beautiful 
were  some  of  the  long  reaches  of  the  shining  river,  where  we 
floated  between  living  walls  of  sculptured  emerald — formed  of 
trees,  embossed  with  myriads  of  variegated,  gem-like  blossoms  ; 
and  every  leaf  hung  on  those  innumerable  hosts  of  boughs  and 
branches  was  quivering  with  the  liquid  diamonds  of  the  rain-drops, 
and  sparkling  and  glancing  in  the  golden  sun,  till  really  this 
world  seemed  too  lovely  almost,  for  a  temporary  abode,  and  the 
sense  of  its  stupendous  beauty  grew  painful.  For  not  only  close 
at  hand  were  these  countlessly  varied  masses  of  luxuriance  and 
splendor,  but  beyond  rose  hills  on  hills,  all  like  insulated  paradises 
soaring  back  again  to  the  glorious  heavens  they  seemed  to  have 
come  from  ! 

We  arrived  at  Gorgona  under  an  intensely  burning  sun.  This 
place  is  about  half  a  dozen  miles  below  Cruces,  but  I  had  decided 
on  riding  from  thence,  in  preference  to  going  on.  to  Cruces,  in.  con- 
sequence of  advice  given  to  me  at  Chagres. 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

Gorgona — Immense  Numbers  of  Americans  at  that  Place — The  Native  Hotel 
— The  Host  and  his  Daughters — A  Fiesta — The  Women's  Dresses — Tha 
truant  Clerk  in  his  Splendor — His  Glory  checked — Hunting  for  Mules — 
A  projected  Railroad  through  Gorgona — "  Sammy,"  the  Servant  at  the 
Hotel — Some  Account  of  his  Duties,  and  how  they  were  performed — His 
Appearance — Spread  of  Fever  in  Gorgona — Mode  of  lading  Mules — De- 
parture of  Friends  for  Panama — Pedestrian  Travelers  to  California — 
Stanzas  suggested  by  seeing  them. 

GORGONA  looked  all  alive,  and  seemed  to  be  rather  a  considera- 
ble place,  for  the  Isthmus.  The  palm-thatched  houses  of  the  na 
tives  looked  very  picturesque  there,  many  of  them  towering  to  an 
immense  height,  and  appearing  not  unlike  pictures  I  have  seen  of 
the  great  African  Baobab  tree  (only  higher  and  more  tapering), 
with  slight  cane  walls  running  up  all  round  to  meet  the  outward 
edge  of  the  circle  of  its  widely  spreading  and  high-reared  boughs. 

This  Isthmusian  town  is  situated  on  a  very  high  and  steep 
bank,  up  which  it  is  rather  hard  work  to  climb  under  the  scorch- 


294  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

ing  sun,  for  our  disembarkation  there  was  accomplished  under 
one  of  the  most  broiling  skies  I  ever  encountered.  Close  to  the 
river  were  encamped  immense  numbers  of  Americans,  who  were 
waiting  for  mules,  or  reposing  themselves,  after  perhaps  working 
their  way  up  the  river,  or  who,  from  neglecting  sanitary  precau- 
tions, were  suffering  from  the  fever. 

A  Frenchman  came  up  to  me,  and  said  he  belonged  to  an  ex- 
cellent posada  here,  which  he  recommended,  but  I  found  it  was 
much  crowded,  and  did  not  go  to  it.  The  American  Hotel  of  Mr. 
Miller,  I  heard  was  quite  full,  and  I  ultimately  decided  on  going 
to  a  native  hotel,  which  was  kept  by  a  Gorgonian,  who  rejoiced  in 
a  family  of  twelve  daughters  and  I  do  not  know  how  many  sons. 
The  dozen  of  daughters,  as  far  as  I  saw  of  them,  were  very  good- 
natured  and  very  indolent,  and  had,  like  our  gentle  Pantaloon,  a 
great  talent  for  staring. 

The  house  being  full,  they  overflowed  into  a  broad  wooden  gal- 
lery that  surrounded  it,  and  a  few  into  the  road,  even.  When  the 
burning  sun  drove  them  in,  they  were  always  in  the  way,  standing 
in  the  porch  and  the  narrow  door- ways,  and  always  busily  engaged 
in  some  toilet  offices,  such  as  putting  up  their  long,  jet-black  hair, 
fastening  flowers  into  it,  and  decorating  themselves  in  various 
ways.  I  found  it  was  a  fiesta,  and  there  was  going  to  be  a  grand 
ball  in  the  evening,  where  all  the  fashion  and  aristocracy  of  the 
place  were  to  assemble. 

It  may  be  imagined  that  the  fair  residents  of  Gorgona  looked 
necessarily  very  picturesque,  when  I  tell  you  that  they  nearly  all 
had  a  profusion  of  natural  and  beautifully-disposed  flowers  in  their 
hair,  which  was  sometimes  amazingly  luxuriant  and  occasionally 
gracefully  braided,  or  with  long  jetty  streamers  flowing  down  al- 
most to  their  feet.  Their  dresses  of  a  light  and  delicate  texture, 
were  generally  either  snowy  white  or  of  a  lovely  rose  color,  and 
on  some  occasions  the  white  and  rose  colors  were  blended  :  around 
the  corsage  were  very  deep  falls  of  lace  ;  the  arms  were  bare. 

One  of  mine  host's  twelve  daughters,  is  particularly  pretty,  and 
the  arrangements  of  the  flowers  in  her  hair,  and  different  little 
decorations  supera^lded  to  her  attire  (which  important  perform- 
ances took  place  on  the  step  of  a  door  opposite),  seemed  to  be  an  ob- 
ject of  interest  to  half  the  city  ;  and  the  amiable  Gorgons — which 
name  I  give  them,  not  because  they  are  ill-favored — quite  the  re- 
verse— but  because  they  inhabit  this  same  Gorgona — crowded  of- 
ficiously round,  all  suggesting  and  talking  together,  and  apparently 
disinterestedly  desirous  that  the  beauty  of  the  place  should  main- 


THE  TRUANT  CLERK.  295 

tain  her  position  as  fairest  of  the  fair.  Match  me  that  magna- 
nimity of  the  mind  feminine  in  the  capitals  of  the  Old  World. 

As  the  following  day  was  Sunday,  I  determined  on  not  starting 
from  Gorgona  till  early  on  Monday  morning ;  but  it  was  neces- 
sary to  secure  mules  for  that  day.  I  placed  full  reliance  on  Senor 

R 's  colored  gentleman,  but  the  afternoon  wore  away  and  he 

did  not  make  his  appearance.  A  loud  beating  of  numerous  wood- 
en drums  and  sundry  twanging  of  guitars  and  violins,  announced 
that  a  fandango  had  "commenced  ;  I  began  to  fear  our  knight  of 
the  ledger  was  twirling  in  the  waltz,  or  threading  the  mazes  of 
the  Spanish  dances  iu  the  bamboo  Almack's,  or  on  the  smooth 
sward  before  the  principal  huts  ;  but  I  thought  it  best  to  wait, 
having  inquired  concerning  his  whereabouts.  I  could  not  engage 
mules,  with  the  chance  of  his  having  already  secured  some. 

In  the  morning  of  the  second  day,  we  saw  from  the  aperture  in 
our  mud-floored  room,  which  did  duty  as  a  window,  the  apparition 
of  the  highly  respectable  truant,  mounted  on  a  caracoling  mustang, 
and  evidently  mightily  proud  of  himself  and  his  prancing  steed. 
Yes,  it  was  certainly  himself,  in  utter  full  dress,  astonishing  the 
weak  minds  of  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  Gorgona  by  his  splendor, 
and  having  apparently  breakfasted  on  a  poker,  other  provisions 
being  scarce,  so  upright  was  he,  and  assuredly  having  forgotten 
there  were  such  humble  animals  as  mules  in  creation.  Without 
further  ceremony  I  indignantly  called  to  him,  and  requested  to 
know  what  bargain  he  had  made  respecting  the  mules  for  our 
journey  to  Panama.  This  was  a  little  unmerciful,  as  it  recalled 
to  the  bold  caballero  on  his  curveting  charger  unpleasing  reminis- 
cences of  the  counting-house  and  the  pen.  As  to  the  rnules,  he 
had  not  contracted  for  any.  No  !  he  had  made  no  "  bargain ;" 
and  as  he  pronounced,  with  immense  disgust,  the  unpalatable 
word,  even  his  shoulders  contracted,  and  his  brow  contracted,  and 
all  symptoms  of  a  poker-breakfast  suddenly  disappeared. 

^  was  in  high  wrath,  and  demanded  to  know  why  he  had  not 
done  so  ?  He  had  not  thought  about  mules.  There  were  none 
to  be  had  ;  los  Americanos  had  taken  them  all,  and  he  glanced  at 
his  fiery  steed  proudly,  as  if  he  would  say,  "  to  expect  me  to  think 
of  such  a  plodding  animal,  indeed  !" 

"  Well,  then,  horses — have  you  secured  horses  for  us  ?" 
"  Tampoco,  los  Yankees  had  all  the  horses,  too." 
The  man  was  evidently  bewitched  by  his  own  unwonted  finery, 
possibly  purchased  by  my  forty  dollars.     I  told  him  I  was  inform- 
ed at  the  hotel,  there  were  mules  to  be  had,  and  I  begged  ho 


296  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

would  instantaneously  make  it  his  business  to  find  them.  He 
seemed  to  take  my  words,  "  au  pied  de  la  lettre,"  for  he  turned 
with  a  discomfited  look  to  the  nearest  passer  by,  wh\>  was  dawd- 
ling along  the  road  half  asleep,  like  a  somnambulizing  snail. 

"  Do  you  know  of  any  mules  ?" — "  No." 

He  turned  hopelessly  to  a  little  toddling  urchin  without  any 
clothing,  who  was  disporting  himself  hard  by  ; 

"  Where  can  mules  be  got,  Senior  ?" 

"  Quien  sabe." 

He  then  turned  to  another,  who,  with  characteristic  noncha- 
lance, shrugged  his  shoulders  and  went  on. 

It  was  difficult  not  to  laugh  at  the  dismal  expression  of  despair 
this  caballero's  face  assumed,  thus  checked  in  his  new  career  of 
glory  down  the  main  street  of  straggling  Gorgona,  "  You  see,  Se- 
nora  Miladi,  it  is  quite  in  vain  ;  I  have  inquired  every  where." 
He  seemed  to  think  it  would  be  almost  wicked  to  try  any  more, 
as  opposing  the  laws  of  destiny  ;  and  really  the  man  looked  so 
completely  stupid  in  his  unaccustomed  state  and  splendor,  that 
unless  extreme  measures  had  been  resorted  to,  and  the  poor  soul 
pulled  off"  his  horse  and  dispossessed  of  his  fine  neckerchief,  and  his 
refulgent  waistcoat,  there  was  no  chance  of  his  returning  to  the 
full  possession  of  his  senses. 

"  Muy  bien,"  I  said,  "  but  it  is  abominable,  very,  and  exceed- 
ingly disagradable"  and  so  inly  resolving  to  rely  on  my  own  re- 
sources, I  closed — not  the  window,  because  there  were  none  to 
close,  but — our  conference,  and  made  preparations,  forthwith,  for 
summoning  my  best  Spanish  to  my  aid,  taking  as  a  guide,  poor 
Sammy,  the  Hindoo  Mozo  at  the  hotel  (of  whom  more  hereafter), 
and  having  a  mule-hunt  at  once  myself. 

Out  we  sallied,  and  soon  came  to  a  mule  proprietor's  abode,  who 
took  us  to  see  his  animals  ;  but  they  were  more  the  shadows  of 
mules  that  had  been,  than  actually  existing  mules,  in  substance 
and  truth.  He  acknowledged,  after  a  little  cross-examination 
relative  to  their  endurance  and  strength,  that  they  were  enferme, 
arid  he  had  given  them  physic.  On  we  went,  and  I  thought  it 
would  be  a  judicious  step  .to  go  to  Mr.  Miller's  hotel,  and  ask  him 
if  he  knew  of  any  mules  which  we  might  engage.  Mr.  Miller 
was  very  civil  and  obliging,  and  roared  out  a  courteous  answer  to 
the  requests  which  I  shrieked  vehemently  in  his  ear.  If  this  sur- 
prises you,  know,  oh,  gentle  reader,  that  a  ball  was  going  on  in 
the  next  house,  and  that  the  noise  of  drums,  violins,  guitars — and 
gongs,  too,  I  believe — was  almost  deafening.  However,  through 


HUNTING  FOR  MULES.  297 


an  interchange  of  shouts,  rendered  necessary  by  the  aforesaid  din, 
1  became  aware  that  there  were  still  several  places  where  I 
might  hope  to  get  mules,  and  at  the  first  one  I  visited,  I  saw  some 
very  fine  animals  indeed,  but  the  proprietor  put  the  most  extrava- 
gant price  upon  them. 

As  I  had  taken  care  to  have  only  money  with  me  sufficient  to 
defray  my  expenses  on  the  road  (for  fear  of  robbery),  and  as  these 
owners  of  mules  demanded  prepayment,  the  preposterous  demands 
of  this  individual  would  have  left  me  quite  penniless,  so  I  attempted 
to  bargain  with  him,  but  he  would  hear  of  no  reduction.  There- 
fore I  prosecuted  my  search  further,  and  at  length  made  a  very 
satisfactory  bargain  altogether,  which  was  not,  however,  finally 
concluded  till  the  mule-owner  had  seen  our  trunks,  and  till  I  had 
made  some  inquiries  respecting  him,  of  the  master  of  the  hotel 
where  I  was  staying,  who  assured  me  Senior was  a  very  re- 
spectable and  honest  man,  and  he  and  his  mules  might  be  thor- 
oughly depended  upon. 

The  mules  were  to  be  at  the  hotel  door  at  a  very  early  hour  in 
the  morning  ;  indeed,  I  allowed,  in  naming  the  time,  for  about  two 
hours'  dilatoriness,  and  we  then  went  to  enjoy  the  beautiful  view 
from  the  edge  of  the  bank,  near  a  large,  half-finished  house,  which 
promised  to  be  quite  a  palace  of  sticks.  It  was  a  lovely  prospect : 
splendid  hills  rose  in  front,  and  the  American  encampment  be- 
neath, by  the  river,  with  its  snow-white  tents  scattered  about 
under  wide-spreading  mimosas  and  umbrageous  sycamores,  had 
a  very  pleasing  and  striking  effect. 

An  open-air  fandango  was  going  on  at  a  distance,  and  with  a 
considerable  space  between  us  and  them,  the  drum  and  the  guitar 
did  not  sound  unpleasing.  All  the  inhabitants  who  were  not 
dancing,  seemed  promenading  about,  and  the  wreaths  and  bunches 
of  natural  flowers  in  the  hair  of  the  women,  and  their  light,  aerial- 
lookinjr  dresses,  gave  an  air  of  festival  gayety  to  the  whole  place 
and  scene  :  it  really  seemed  a  sort  of  Fairy-land. 

One  almost  foolishly  shrinks  from  the  idea  of  a  railroad  coming 
through  such  a  lovely,  idle,  flower-crowned,  unsophisticated  place ; 
but  we  hear  it  will  do  so  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  and  as  we 
came  to  Gorgona,  we  passed  a  number  of  rails,  and  a  small 
mountain  of  wheelbarrows  and  tools,  on  the  bank  of  the  Chagres, 
in  preparation  for  the  commencement  of  the  work.  The  insalu- 
brity of  the  climate  seerns  one  great  obstacle  to  its  accomplishment ; 
but  by  careful  precautions  and  perseverance,  I  dare  say  its  diffi- 
culties will  be  overcome. 


298  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

It  was  some  time  before  we  could  tear  ourselves  from  the  con- 
templation of  this  lovely  view,  but  at  last  we  returned  to  our  hotel, 
and  begged  the  almost  ubiquitous  'Sammy  to  prepare  our  chocolate, 
and  bring  us  some  bread. 

And  now  I  must  tell  a  little  about  this  same  marvelous  Sammy, 
who  was  one  of  the  Coolies  imported  into  Jamaica  some  time  ago, 
from  the  East  Indies.  His  Jamaica  master,  being,  like  many 
others,  smitten  with  a  wish  to  seek  the  new  El  Dorado  of  the 
world,  came  to  the  Isthmus  with  the  intention  of  proceeding  to 
California  as  soon  as  practicable  ;  he,  however,  fell  a  victim  here 
to  the  Chagres  fever,  and  left  the  unfortunate  Sammy  in  a  strange 
country,  hardly  speaking  a  word  of  English  (which,  from  the  vast 
numbers  of  Americans  crossing  the  Isthmus,  would  have  been  very 
useful  to  him),  and  not  a  syllable  of  Spanish.  He  was  taken,  how- 
ever, as  a  servant-of-all-work  in  this  hotel,  where,  I  believe,  his 
master  died,  and  he  certainly  had  no  easy  place ;  the  cry  was 
"  Sammy,  Sammy,"  from  morning  till  night. 

It  was  amusing  to  peep  out  into  the  great  sola,  and  to  see  poor 
Sammy  incessantly  scrambling  in  and  out  of  his  beloved  hammock, 
whence  he  appeared  never  to  move,  save  on  compulsion.  That 
hammock — one  among  many — seemed  to  him  the  garden  of  Eden, 
the  concentrated  essence  of  all  happiness :  but,  poor  wretch !  he 
was  no  sooner  in  it  than  he  was  out  of  it,  and  if  you  watched  for 
five  minutes,  you  would  be  apt  to  imagine  he  was  performing  the 
feat  of  jumping  in  and  out,  so  rapidly,  as  hardly  to  touch  the 
swinging  litter,  for  a  wager.  "  Sammy  !"  he  was  half-way  in,  and 
down  he  tumbled  again  :  "  Plate  of  boiled  rice,  Sammy  !"  That 
•done,  away  he  posted  again,  hammockward  ;  stopped  in  mid 
career,  "  Some  roasted  bananas,  Sammy  !"  off  he  stumped  :  these 
brought,  he  accomplished  a  triumphant  jump  into  the  hammock; 
"  Sammy,  Sammy  !"  out  again — so  that  he  rushed  about  inces- 
santly, a  most  compulsory  harlequin,  and  between  every  separate 
service,  vaulted,  or  a  half  or  a  quarter  vaulted,  as  the  time  allowed 
him,  into  the  tempting  bag  again,  thus  performing  the  most  ex- 
traordinarily active  feats  of  agility  unceasingly. 

And,  indeed,  the  immense  amount  of  exertion  he  went  through,  by 
thus  running  backward  and  forward,  to  and  from  the  couch  in  mid  air, 
was  inconceivable,  and  by  far  the  greater  part  of  this  labor  was  for  the 
sake  of  repose  and  rest !  He  worked  like  forty  dragons  in  order  to  be 
idle.  He  did  pretty  nearly  every  thing,  that  he  might  do  nothing — 
just  that  he  might  do  nothing — and  as  soon  as  he  began  doing  it,  he 
had  to  leave  off,  and  work  as  hard  as  before.  It  was  a  sad  sight  to 


SAMMY,  THE  SERVANT.  299 


see  him  snatched  back,again  twenty  times  in  three  seconds  from  his 
hanging  nest  of  peace.  Frequently  he  had  to  make  a  demi-vault 
in  the  air  and  spring  round,  and  often  his  head  would  rest  for  a 
moment,  while  his  legs  still  quivered  in  the  atmosphere,  as  if  they 
heard  the  call  which  the  sleepy  head  did  not.  As  to  pedestrians 
walking  a  thousand  miles  in  a  thousand  hours,  what  was  that  to 
poor  Sammy  running,  and  jumping,  and  plunging  ditto? 

But  a  curious  part  of  this  singular  exhibition  was,  that  the  poor 
Coolie  always  retained,  in  the  midst  of  the  most  hurried  exertions, 
the  same  placid,  lazy  expression.  He  looked  the  very  incarnation 
of  all  idleness  while  he  was  laboring  most  severely.  He  seemed 
at  such  times, a  sort  of  galvanized  mummy — or  a  puppet,  with  its 
eyes  half  shut,  pulled  furiously  by  wires — or  Morpheus  himself 
forced  to  dance  a  jig  and  hornpipe  by  the  German  magic  fiddle. 
So  sleepy  a  countenance  one  never  beheld,  perhaps,  as  poor  Sam- 
my's. It  was  all  leaden  laziness ;  he  looked  as  if  he  could  do 
nothing  indeed,  thoroughly,  and  more  nothing  than  any  body  had 
ever  done  before  ! 

Sammy  was  rather  ancient,  but  had  very  fine  features.  I  do 
not  know  what  tint  Coolies  are  exactly  in  general,  but  Sammy's 
complexion  was  much  the  same  as  that  of  an  anthracite  coal.  His 
jet  black  nose  was  quite  Grecian ;  he  had  large  black  eyes,  that 
always  looked  half  asleep,  and  splendid  teeth.  His  costume  was 
rather  remarkable.  Foor  Massa's  black  hat  was  perched  on  the 
top  of  his  large  snow-white  Hindoo  turban,  like  a  chimney  pot  on 
a  China  soup  tureen.  The  rest  of  his  dress  seemed  a  mixture  of 
East  Indian,  Spanish,  West  Indian,  South  American  Indian, 
Yankean,  Californian,  English,  and  of  his  own  invention. 

I  asked  him  how  he  liked  the  Isthmus.  He  made  a  piteous 
face,  and  after  pausing  a  little  to  muster  his  best  English,  replied 
in  this  strain  :  "  Lookee,  Madras  berry  nice,  Jamaica  so  so  nice, 
and  dis  no  nice  at  all."  With  that  he  vanished  to  cries  resound- 
ing and  reduplicated  into  one  grand  chorus  of  "  Sarnmy,  Sammy  !" 
What  was  not  wanted  ?  dinner,  breakfast,  luncheon,  supper,  all 
according  as  the  hours  of  travelers  varied.  But  he  would  turn 
by  habit  to  the  hammock  first,  make  a  desperate  spring  and  bound, 
and  then  plunge  back  again,  as  the  cries  of  "  Sammy"  increased. 

A  sort  of  book-keeper  and  superintendent  of  this  palm-roofed 
Astor  House  was  a  native  of  Jamaica,  who  had  a  wooden  leg ; 
and  whenever  Sammy  heard  the  stump  of  the  wooden  leg,  he 
tumbled  out  of  the  much-loved  hammock  in  no  time,  for  one  of 
its  chief  occupations  was  routing  out  unfortunate  Sammy.  He 


300  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 


seemed  principally  to  have  been  engaged  for  that  purpose — in 
short,  as  a  whipper-in  to  Sammy. 

But  a  delightful  scene  took  place  on  one  occasion,  when  one  of 
the  native  boys,  lounging  near  the  door,  saw  the  hammock  (so 
dear  to  Sammy)  unoccupied,  while  that  gentleman  was  cooking, 
laying  dinner,  and  waiting,  all  at  once — as  it  seemed  to  ordinary 
eyes — in  darted  the  boy,  and  was  ensconced  in  the  hammock  in  a 
half-second.  If  the  reader  could  but  have  seen  Sammy's  speech- 
less rage  and  fury  when  on  returning  from  one  of  his  busy  cruises, 
he  had  almost  effected  an  entry  into  his  port  and  haven  of  rest, 
and  found  it  occupied  by  that  intruder  !  A  lion  returning  to  his 
den,  and  finding  it  in  possession  of  a  monkey,  or  one  of  his  own 
jackals,  could  not  have  been  more  fiercely  indignant ;  but  his  rage 
and  his  jump  were  both  cut  short.  "  Sammy,  pork-steak.  Sam- 
my, have  done  snoozing  there."  Poor  Sammy  snoozing,  indeed ! 
If  ever  he  had  been  wide  awake  in  the  world,  old  or  new — in 
either  hemisphere — he  was  so  then,  in  his  unspeakable  rage. 
With  an  infuriated  gesture  of  menace  at  the  boy,  he  darted  away 
to  get  the  steaks,  set  them  down  with  a  slam,  which  scattered 
the  gravy  like  spray  about,  and  cutting  half  a  dozen  insane  sum- 
mersets anticipatory,  in  the  air,  before  he  reached  the  hammock, 
began  as  soon  as  he  got  there  (with  a  final  bound  that  almost 
sent  him  over  the  other  side),  to  knock  the  boy  about  with  all  his 
strength,  muttering  profuse  Hindostanee  compliments  to  him. 
The  little  rascal  ducked  and  dived  skillfully.  He  was  lithe,  and 
slippery  as  an  eel  in  its  teens,  and  Sammy's  first  and  second 
blow  seemed  to  fall  on  the  air.  "  Sammy,  Sammy,"  was  the 
cry.  Away  he  bounded,  with  the  arm  yet  upraised  to  strike ; 
and  whether  the  blow,  which  he  probably  could  not  stop  from  the 
force  of  its  own  impetus,  fell  on  the  owner  of  the  wooden  leg,  or 
on  the  head  of  one  of  the  Californiaibound  wayfarers,  I  know  not. 

I  was  truly  sorry  to  be  obliged  to  look  after  mules  on  Sunday, 
but  the  fever  was  spreading  fast  at  Gorgona,  and  I  did  not  like 
remaining  there  any  longer  than  was  absolutely  necessary.  We 
had  seen  several  suffering  from  its  attacks ;  and  the  poor  wooden- 
leg  caught  it.  The  following  morning  I  saw  him  with  his  face 
jerfectly  scarlet  with  fever,  and  his  blood-shot  eyes  almost  start- 
ing out  of  his  head,  looking  as  unlike  the  sallow,  quiet,  composed 
person  he  had  been  the  day  before,  as  possible.  Sammy  actually 
snatched  a  whole  nap  of  one  minute  and  a  quarter  "  by  Shrews- 
bury clock,"  on  that  eventful  morning. 

When  we  took  our  little  promenade  in  Gorgona,  we  had  seen 


ARETHUSA  ON  A  MULE.  301 

here  and  there  a  wretched-looking  sickly  object ;  and  on  asking 
what  was  the  matter,  were  always  told  it  was  the  consequence 
and  remains  of  the  fever.  One  emaciated  creature  was  almost 
a  skeleton,  with  a  ghastly  death's-head,  bandaged  round.  I  sup- 
pose he  had  been  shaved  ;  he  was  quite  a  shocking  spectacle.  I 
asked  if  that,  too,  was  the  fever.  "  Si,  si."  And  yet  Gorgona 
is  said  to  be  a  healthy  spot ;  but  I  suppose  these  people  bring  the 
fever  from  Chagres,  or  some  other  insalubrious  place  they  may 
have  visited. 

We  were  up  very  early  on  Monday  morning,  but  had  to  wait 
a  long  time  for  the  mules.  I  began  to  think  I  ought  to  have  or- 
dered them  to  be  at  the  door  the  night  before,  to  have  insured 
their  being  there  in  the  morning  early.  At  last  they  arrived,  and 
after  a  great  deal  of  talking  and  loitering  about,  they  began  to 
pack  the  animals. 

This  is  a  curious  sight,  and  interested  us,  though  we  had  seen 
much  the  same  thing  in  Mexico,  but  not  so  near.  They  appear 
to  have  the  same  apparejos  and  alforgas  for  the  mules,  and  while 
drawing  the  fastenings  tight,  they  plant  one  foot  firmly,  in  the 
same  way,  against  the  side  of  the  animal,  and  pull  with  all  their 
might.  The  mule  is  blinded  during  this  process.  As  soon  as  the 
packing  is  finished  (which  takes  a  long  while  in  the  dilatory  way 
in  which  they  set  about  it  here)  the  bandage  is  taken  off  the  eyes, 
and  the  mule  trots  away  to  rejoin  her  companions,  sometimes 
with  a  reproachful  snort,  as  if  she  would  say,  "  This  load's  too 
much,  parole  d'honneur." 

On  Sunday  morning  we  saw  our  friends,  Mrs.  H and 

Arethusa  start  for  their  Jornada,  to  Panama,  riding  sideways  on 
men's  saddles — as  we  also  had  to  do ;  but  Arethusa  (who  I  must 
say,  so  far  from  having  melted  away,  looked  more  substantial  than 
ever)  almost  entirely  concealed  her  mule,  which,  whatever  might 
have  been  its  actual  size,  appeared  comparatively  diminutive  be- 
neath its  voluminous  rider.  (Forgive  me,  kind  and  amiable  friend, 
I  would  fain  say,  and  I  know  yon  will,  for  you  are  good-nature 
itself.)  Nothing,  in  short,  of  such  an  animal  as  a  mule  was 
clearly  visible,  except  a  pair  of  long  ears  and  a  tail. 

After  the  lapse  of  a  considerable  time,  we  saw  Mrs.  H 

return  alone,  apparently  in  haste.  We  looked  for  the  ears  and 

the  tail,  but  tlieij  were  npt  to  be  seen.  I  imagined  Mrs. had 

forgotten  something,  and  returned  to  find  it ;  but  I  afterward 
learned  she  had  lost  her  little  boy,  who  had  strayed  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  mule-path,  gathering  flowers,  and  had  become 


302  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

bewildered  among  the  dense  intricacies  of  the  trackless  forests. 
She  had  returned,  thinking  he  might  have  found  his  way  back  to 
Gorgona,  and  if  not,  with  the  intention  of  sending  people  from 
thence  in  different  directions,  to  look  for  him.  We  heard  of  his 
safety  subsequently. 

Our  room,  with  its  solitary  aperture,  commanded  a  view  of  the 
commencement  of  the  road  to  Panama ;  and  many  an  interesting 
and  curious  sight  did  we  witness  from  it.  One  that  is  very  char- 
acteristic of  American  go-aheadishness  and  independence,  I  will 
relate.  A  spare,  eager-eyed  "  States'  man,"  had  loaded  an  ob- 
stinate-looking animal  with  probably  all  his  worldly  goods,  and 
was  starting,  or  rather  attempting  to  start,  perfectly  alone  on  his 
road  to  Panama,  for  the  animal  resolutely  refused  to  budge,  and 
he  was  dragging  at  it  by  an  immense  long  rope  with  all  his  might 
and  main,  he  at  one  end  of  the  rambling  street,  and  it  at  the 
other,  and  shouting  out  in  English  to  the  sauntering  natives  by 
the  roadside,  "  I  say,  which  is  the  road  to  Panamatv  ?"  Another 
was  stepping  on  deliberately,  his  bundle  under  his  arm,  and  a  huge 
umbrella,  like  that  you  see  represented  in  Chinese  rice-paper  draw- 
ings, over  his  head,  following  the  first  path  that  came  in  his  way. 

We  saw  numbers  start  along  this  road  (which  was  the  right 
way)  almost  all  with  the  same  frank,  free,  earnest  bearing — and 
one  felt  they  do  not  go  only  to  gather  up  gold  in  the  rich  mines  of 
that  far  land,  now  a  part  of  their  glorious  country — they  go  to 
help  and  assist  in  raising  a  mighty  empire  on  those  teeming  shores 
of  the  great  Pacific,  to  carry  progress,  order,  and  civilization  in 
their  train.  I  have  attempted  to  express  this  in  the  following  lines  : 

Beneath  the  Tropics'  blaze  of  lustrous  day, 
The  nation-founders  take  their  glorious  way ; 
.    Not  solely  for  the  vulgar  thirst  of  gold, 

Pass  hurrying  on  the  adventurous  and  the  bold. 
They  haste  to  bear  unto  that  distant  soil 
(To  flourish  soon  beneath  their  patient  toil) 
Law,  order,  science,  arts — and  all  that  springs 
Beneath  civilization's  sheltering  wings. 

Pass — nation-makers  !  onward  go ! — 

All  earth  shall  yet  your  triumph  know  ! 

Here,  their  inspiring  and  momentous  march, 
Seems  under  one  august  triumphal  arch, 
By  Nature  raised,  as  though  to  greet  and  grace 
Their  conquering  progress  to  the  Chosen  Place. 
She  shows  her  vernal  pomp — her  rich  array, 
And  with  her  silvery  voice  she  seems  to  say — 


STANZAS  OX  CALIFORNIA  ADVENTURERS.  303 

"Forget  not  me.  and  all  I  bring  of  joy, 

Blest  hoards  ol  pure  delights  that  can  not  cloy. 

On!  nation-founders!  bold  and  free — 

But  keep  your  souls  still  true  to  me  !" 

And  not  alone  her  outward  charms  appear, 

The  wanderer's  wearied  sense  to  soothe  and  cheer ; 

But  all  her  gentlest  influences  seem, 

Away  from  home — to  call  up  home's  sweet  dream. 

The  breath  of  flowers — the  stir  of  leaves — the  breeze 

Whispering  soft  music  through  the  embowering  trees, 

Seem  still  to  speak  of  home,  with  tenderest  tone, 

And  bid  them  still  that  pure  dominion  own. 

On  ! — nation-framers  ! — do  and  dare — 

Home-prayers  shall  bless  you  here — and  there  I 

A  thousand  generations  hence  shall  own 

Your  power — your  influence,  felt  from  zone  to  zone ; 

A  thousand  generations  hence  shall  bless, 

Shall  praise  you  for  their  homes — their  happiness ! 

Yours  is  a  kingly  mission,  brave  and  high ; 

On  ! — in  the  name  of  Truth  and  Liberty ! — 

'Tis  a  right  royal  progress ! — round  ye  wait 

The  guardian  powers  that  watch  and  guard  a  state. 

Long  agels  needs  your  task  ? — away  ! — 

Enough  is  Freedom,  and  a  Day  ! 

Treasures  ye  seek,  but  treasures  too  ye  take, 
To  yon  fair  shores,  which  ye  shall  glorious  make ; 
Treasures  that  globes  of  gold  could  never  buy — 
The  wealth  of  Thought  and  Heart  and  Memory  ! 
Generous  affections,  quenchless  zeal  and  skill, 
To  mould,  and  rule,  and  conquer  at  your  will ! — 
On  to  your  task ! — with  mind  resolved,  and  soul 
On  fire  to  seize  the  prize — to  reach  the  goal. 

Wide  be  your  Flag  of  Stars  unfurled, 

Ye  workmen,  that  shall  build — a  world  ! — 

Wide  be  your  Banner  of  the  Stars  unfurled, 
And  on,  ye  workmen — that  shall  build — a  world. 
A  host  of  nations,  wreathed  with  power  and  pride, 
Have  rushed  to  glory,  flourished,  changed  and  died ; 
And  history  bears  them  to  your  gaze  ;  behold ! 
High  towers  her  pyramid  of  nations  old. 
Plant  the  sublime  foundations  of  your  own 
On  those  chief  heights  of  elder  lands  undone. 

Begin  with  all  they  had  of  best, 

And  Heaven  inspire  ye  with  the  rest. 

The  noblest  heights  that  others  have  attained 

(What  time  o'er  earth  with  sovereign  sway  they  reigned) 

Shall  be  the  lo\vliest  step — the  humblest  base 

Of  your  bright  state,  in  eagle  pride  of  place. 


TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 


There  shall  be  felt  through  all  its  movements  free, 

The  heavings  of  eternity's  great  sea. 

No  dull  stagnation  e'er  shall  check  its  powers ; 

Like  rounds  of  th'  angel's  ladder,  all  its  hours 
Shall  higher  lead,  and  higher  still, 
Till  Time  his  measured  march  fulfill. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

Arrival  at  Panama — Hospitality  of  Mr. His  House — Coral  and  Pearl 

of  the  Pacific — The  "Espiritu  Santo" — Departure  from  Gorgona  de- 
scribed— A  refractory  Mule — The  Cerro  Grande — Alleged  View  from 
its  Summit — A  magnificent  Forest  described — A  Forest  on  Fire — The 
American's  Admiration  of  the  Trees — The  Flowers  in  the  Forest — Diffi- 
culty of  proceeding  on  the  bad  Roads — Enormous  Loads  carried  by  the 
Natives  of  the  Isthmus — Attire  of  Travelers  to  California — Female  Inhab- 
itants of  the  Isthmus — Their  Dislike  of  Americans — Arrival  at  the  Half- 
way-house— Mrs.  H and  her  Child — The  American  Character  ex- 
emplified— The  Journey  resumed — Escapade  of  a  Mule — A  Halt — The 
Indian  Hut — Its  Inmates — Noises  in  the  Forest. 

I  CONTINUE  (being  now  at  Panama)  my  narrative  of  our  transit 
across  the  Isthmus,  from  where  I  left  off  at  Gorgona.  But  first, 

let  me  observe  that  we  are  under  the  hospitable  roof  of  Mr.  P , 

where  he  and  his  daughter  most  kindly  have  arranged  every  thing 
in  their  power  to  make  us  comfortable. 

The  house  is  charming,  and  commands  an  enchanting  view  of 
the  majestic  and  mighty  Pacific  ;  and  almost  perpetually,  the  most 
delicious  and  the  coolest  breezes  blow  in  at  the  immensely  large 
windows  which  open  on  broad  balconies  with  wooden  balustrades, 
some  of  them  ornamented  with  rare  and  lovely  plants. 

There  is  a  little  green  paroquet  here,  which  is  an  immense 

favorite  of  V 's,  and  a  great  amusement  to  her.  She  has 

undertaken  to  tame  it,  and  as  it  is  the  most  savage  little  beast  of 
a  bird  I  ever  met  with,  it  will  task  her  powers  to  the  utmost,  and 
she  will  be  the  Van  Amburgh  of  birds,  if  she  succeeds.  It  already 
begins  not  to  bite  her  quite  as  hard  as  it  does  other  people. 

From  the  windows  we  see  immense  numbers  of  palm-trees, 
growing  to  the  very  shores  of  the  great  ocean,  and  we  can  almost 
fancy  the  fairy  bowers  of  roses,  and  of  myriad  blossoms  we  have 
been  so  enchanted  with  lately,  are  continued,  and  mixed  with  the 
labyrinths  of  coral  and  wealth  of  pearl  under  these  placid,  trans- 
lucent, silvery-glittering  seas  of  music  and  of  peace.  But  coral 


DEPARTURE  FROM  GORGONA.          305 

grottoes  and  pearl  are  poor  compared  to  the  pomp  of  the  tropical 
flowers. 

While  I  am  speaking  of  flowers,  I  must  tell  of  a  most  lovely 
and  exquisite  one  here,  called  I  am  told,  Espiritu  Santo,  which 
sacred  name  is  given  to  it  from  its  perfect  resemhlance  to  a  white 
dove.  It  is  not  in  blossom  now,  so  I  have  only  heard  of,  not  seen 
its  beauty ;  but  I  am  assured  the  likeness  of  this  snowy  flower 
to  the  bird  above-mentioned  is  quite  extraordinary,  and  its  love- 
liness consummate.  There  is  another  beauteous  flower  very  com- 
mon here,  that  seems  to  have  long  silky  tassels  hanging  from  it. 

On  the  day  of  our  departure  from  Gorgona,  we  had  to  wait — it 
seemed  to  me  a  most  unconscionable  time — while  they  were  lading 
the  mules;  but  patience  is  a  virtue'that  is  pretty  well  exercised 
on  the  Isthmus.  At  last,  all  was  declared  to  be  ready,  and  the 
saddle  mules  were  led  up  to  the  wooden  piazza  of  the  hotel.  My 
little  girl  was  very  anxious  to  ride  one  that  was  handsomer  and 
looked  in  sleeker  condition  than  the  rest ;  I  had  no  objection. 
Our  guides  (of  whom  we  had  a  good  escort,  and  who  were  said  to 
be  hombres  muy  respetables)  had  no  objection  either,  and  we  all 
mounted  and  started.  We  had  not  gone  far  before  V disap- 
proved of  her  mule  being  led,  for  one  of  the  Mozos  held  its  rein 
very  carefully.  I  remarked  then  that  they  had  not  taken  off  a 
bandage  that  covered  its  eyes,  and  this  circumstance,  coupled  with 
the  fact  of  its  being  the  only  one  they  attempted  to  lead,  made  me 
think  it  was  not  so  quiet  as  the  others.  However,  on  being  ques- 
tioned, they  said  it  would  go  very  well,  and  at  her  urgent  request 
let  it  go  loose,  and  it  seemed  perfectly  sober  and  steady. 

We  saw  an  absurd  spectacle,  though  not  an  amusing  one  to  the 
unlucky  person  concerned,  who  might  have  been  a  loser  thereby. 
A  mule,  laden  with  numerous  articles  of  luggage,  was  playing  the 
most  extravagant  antics  a  little  way  from  us,  galloping  along  the 
valley,  that  was  cleared  here  and  there,  with  his  heels  generally 
cooling  themselves  in  the  air :  jets  d'eau  of  plethoric  carpet-bags 
and  divers  bundles  rained  gracefully  around  him,  and  the  unfortu- 
nate owner  of  the  property  rushed  wildly  after,  shouting,  and  ex- 
tending his  arms,  which  only  seemed  to  make  the  creature  dance 
his  bolero  without  castanets,  more  wildly,  as  if  he  took  these  de- 
monstrations for  "thunders  of  applause."  At  last,  as  if  to  punish 
us  for  smiling  at  the  creature's  extraordinary  performances,  it  near- 
ed  our  quiet  procession,  and  our  own  baggage-mules  showed  signs 
of  joining  in  a  general  contra-danza  or  a  Highland  fling.  When 
•we  saw  the  cherished  carpet-bags  of  our  souls,  and  darling  pack- 


306  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

ages  of  our  hearts  exposed  to  such  fearful  danger,  we  shook  in  our 
stirrups  (horridly  clumsy  things  they  were),  but  the  danger  passed 
over  ;  the  rebel  mule  was  secured.  The  grief-stricken  owner  held 
in  his  arms  his  shattered  bags  and  bundles,  and  with  much  emo- 
tion proceeded  to  examine  the  mutilated  remains  of  various  treas- 
ures, such  as  travelers  only  know  how  to  prize  (not  pearls  and  dia- 
monds, nor  any  such  trash,  but  haply  ajar  of  pickles,  or  something 
of  the  kind,  invaluable,  unreplaceable),  and  we  went  on  our  way, 
condoling  with  him,  however,  on  his  misfortunes. 

I  must  not  omit  to  mention  that  to  the  west  of  Gorgona  is  a 
hill  called  the  Cerro  Grande,  and  some  maintain  that  from,  this 
(and  not  Monto  Carabali),  which  is  one  of  those  heights  forming 
the  ridge  which  divides  the  Isthmus  longitudinally,  both  oceans 
can  be  seen  at  once  with  a  glass,  and  from  this  alone.  Doctors 
differ,  and  they  set  the  fashion  to  all  the  rest  of  mankind.  I  could 
not  find  that  any  one  had  ascended  this  hill  lately  to  try  the  truth 
of  the  statement  :  the  path  is  said  to  be  extremely  rugged  and 
abrupt,  and  the  heat  of  the  weather  affords  an  excuse  for  avoiding 
such  a  fatiguing  expedition. 

After  we  had  crossed  this  valley,  we  entered  a  magnificent  forest 
that  appeared  to  become  thicker  and  thicker,  till  it  almost  shut 
out  the  intense  light  of  a  tropical  day,  and  thoroughly  screened  us 
from  the  piercing  rays  of  a  tropical  sun  at  its  zenith  !  It  was  in- 
describably delightful.  A  cool  emerald-tinted  twilight  surrounded 
us  on  every  side,  and  still,  as  we  rode  on,  we  seemed  more  closely 
encircled  and  more  completely  canopied  by  the  pleached  and  heap- 
ed together  branches.  It  was  a  ceiling  and  walls  of  foliage  and 
flower-enameled  greenery. 

When  we  got  still  deeper  into  that  mighty  forest,  it  seemed  like 
a  vegetable  Mammoth  Cave,  and  as  if  one  was  miles  below  the 
surface  of  the  earth  ;  for  it  appeared  difficult  to  believe  that  other- 
wise, in  the  blazing  noon  of  the  Tropics,  you  could  be  so  entirely 
sheltered  from  every  ray  of  the  sun,  with  only  boughs  and  leaves 
above  you.  The  rich  underwood  mingled  its  countless  shoots  and 
trails  with  the  dense  down-hanging  garlands  of  parasites,  as  sta- 
lagmites meet  stalactites  in  earth's  cavernous  recesses. 

We  heard  a  shower  of  rain  at  one  time  above  us,  like  the  tramp, 
tramp  of  a  thousand  fairy  legions  :  but  hardly  a  drop  reached  us 
(it  was  not  a  very  heavy  rain,  of  course).  We  saw  scarcely  a 
living  creature  in  the  forest  (though  we  heard  many),  except  insects, 
and  by  them  we  were  much  assailed,  though  at  the  time  we  did 
not  suffer  so  much  as  afterward  from  their  attacks.  Besides  the 


FOREST  ON  FIRE.  307 


alligators,  we  had  seen  on  the  banks  of  the  Chagres  the  ugly  arma- 
dillo and  various  lizards,  and  had  heard  a  loud  roaring,  which  I 
thought  perhaps  proceeded  from  the  puma,  or  South  American 
lion,  but  was  told  it  was  the  sound  made  by  a  large  black  monkey 
that  frequents  the  Isthmus.  The  forests  are  said  to  be  inhabited 
by  the  jaguar,  black  tiger,  wild  cat,  ocelot,  panther,  and  a  variety 
of  monkeys,  who  may  often  be  heard  chattering  away  briskly  with 
their  numerous  comrades. 

We  have  generally  been  pretty  fortunate  in  seeing  interesting 
sights  in  the  countries  we  have  traveled  in,  and  during  this  ride 
to  Panama  we,  for  the  first  time,  encountered  that  grand  spectacle, 
a  forest  on  fire.  We  rather  suddenly  found  ourselves  almost  en- 
veloped in  a  dense  smoke,  and  presently  the  ground  over  which 
we  were  riding  (it  was  a  very  narrow  mule-path  through  that 
apparently  illimitable  and  interlaced  forest),  and  all  the  surround- 
ing trees — trunks,  boughs,  branches,  leaves,  and  creepers — became 
of  a  brilliant,  intense,  glaring  sort  of  red  orange  color  (something 
like  the  hue  of  the  ripest  and  richest  of  Maltese  oranges  inside), 
and  the  most  deliciously  odoriferous  scents  pervaded  the  whole  air, 
as  if  a  thousand  phoenixes  were  expiring  at  once  in  their  burning 
spicy  nests.  In  short,  the  forest  was  on  fire  at  a  .little  distance 
from  where  we  were  riding.  The  guides  called  out  to  us  to  push 
on,  but  not  to  be  alarmed,  for  they  said  there  was  scarcely  any 
danger,  as  the  trees  were  so  enormously  large,  and  so  thickly  crowd- 
ed and  jammed  together  there,  that  it  burnt  very  slowly,  and 
also,  there  was  very  little  if  any  wind  (and  that  was,  it  appeared, 
in  our  favor).  The  trees,  too,  had  been  a  little  moistened  by  a 
late  shower  ;  so  altogether  we  felt  but  little  fear,  and  observed  the 
majestic  spectacle  with  feelings  of  tolerable  security.  There  was, 
however,  a  very  loud  crackling  of  branches,  like  an  advancing 
-fusillade,  and  the  sparks  and  ashes  fell  fast  on  us,  covering  us  from 
head  to  foot. 

We  rode  steadily  on,  and  before  very  long  emerged  from  those 
thick  clouds  of  fragrant  smoke  which  seemed  redolent  of  frankin- 
cense, and  of  all  the  odorous  breathings  of  "  Araby  the  blest." 
We  emerged,  I  say,  from  that  perfumed  atmosphere,  and  lost 
sight  of  the  v^vid  scarlet  and  orange-colored  reflections  of  the 
flames,  passing  once  more  into  the  dazzlingly  bright  golden  sun- 
light of  the  Tropics,  for  just  then  we  came  upon  a  little  clearing. 
We  were  glad  to  breathe  freely,  and  shake  the  remaining  ashes 
from  our  clothes,  which  were,  happily,  of  very  incombustible  ma- 
terials. 


308  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

We  soon  plunged  again  into  the  giant  woods.  And  here  I  wish 
I  could  convey  to  the  reader  the  faintest  idea  of  their  astonishing 
beauty,  and  of  their  peculiar  characteristics ;  so  gigantic,  yet  so 
wondrously  delicate  in  detail ;  vast,  colossal  bowers  hanging  over 
other  bowers  festooned  and  twining  together  in  twenty  thousand 
wild  romantic  shapes,  and  with  that  gossamer  net-work  of  light 
creepers  flaunting  here  and  quivering  there,  as  if  the  rainbowed 
spray  of  myriads  of  fountains  had  suddenly  been  arrested  and  hard- 
ened by  magic  into  permanent  forms.  Then  such  trees !  studies 
in  themselves ;  some  like  vast  columns  of  burnished  silver,  with 
the  most  smooth  brilliantly  white  bark  you  can  imagine,  and  a 
dome-like  top  of  magnificent  foliage  ;  others  with  glorious  leaves, 
like  great  green  stars,  or  rather  three-quarters  of  a  star,  shining 
like  sculptured  emeralds ;  then  a  majestic  kind  of  wild  cotton  tree 
(the  silk  cotton,  I  think),  with  its  beautiful  product,  hanging  like 
feathery  snow  from  it. 

A  couple  of  Americans,  armed  to  the  teeth,  and  carrying  large 
knapsacks,  passed  us  (they  sometimes  carry  huge  umbrellas,  look- 
ing like  parachutes  turned  topsy-turvy)  ;  and  I  heard  one  address 
the  other  ;  "  I've  seen  a  many  and  a  many  trees  in  the  States,  to 
be  sure,  but  I -never  saw  a  single  one  of  these  here  before  in  my 
country"  (a  pretty  widely  spreading  country  too),  "  not  one  on  'em  ; 
it  beats  all  natur,  I  swarn  ;  it's  all  new  to  me,  though  I've  seen 
lots  of  trees  in  my  time  ;  wal,  I  Juzve." 

Another  inexpressibly  lovely  tree  is  the  bamboo,  which  grows 
to  an  immense  height  here,  and  looks'  like  heaps  of  gigantic  green 
ostrich  feathers.  In  some  instances  (on  the  bank  of  the  Chagres) 
I  saw  it  forming  a  most  perfect  Prince  of  Wales's  Plume,  of  the 
most  colossal  dimensions,  and  yet  of  the  most  aerial  and  delicate 
lightness  imaginable.  Then  there  are  the  beautiful  plants  of  the 
"  Spanish  daggers,"  and  the  cofiee  trees,  the  cocoa-nut  palms  (with 
the  huge  cocoa-nuts  hanging  so  temptingly  from  them),  and  the 
zapote,  with  its  large,  splendid  fruit  ;  the  mango,  the  calabash 
tree,  and  the  ceiba,  and  multitudes  of  others. 

And  then  there  are  the  superb  Titanic  lilies,  and  the  immense 
bananas,  which,  whenever  exposed  to  the  scorching  sun,  have 
their  giant  leaves  cracked  and  divided  by  the  heat,  and  which  are 
sometimes  split  by  the  wind ;  and  there  are  literally  roses  wedged 
with  roses,  ever-lovely,  and  heaped  in  such  close,  inextricable  coils, 
that  they  almost  seem  a  single  mammoth  flower  ;  and  wildernesses 
of  hot-house  plants  (I  mean  hot-house  plants  in  our  country,  with 
its  coal-fire  sun),  hiding  the  soil  with  their  lavish  luxuriance,  and 


BAD  ROADS.  309 


almost  forming,  one  with  another,  an  indistinguishable  mags,  where 
the  crowded  dyes  seem  to  shift,  and  change,  and  melt  into  each 
other,  like  the  hues  of  diamonds  by  lamplight.  It  is  indeed  the 
poetry  of  vegetation.  Yes !  it  is  a  mighty  poem,  written  by  the 
living  sun  on  the  earth,  caught  up  by  the  elements  and  vibrating, 
as  it  were,  through  the  beating  heart  of  eternal  Nature,  that  is 
brooding,  like  the  mother  dove,  mighty  in  love  and  loveliness,  over 
her  own  offspring  of  beauty  and  beneficence. 

Sublimely  fair,  however,  as  the  scenery  was,  that  we  might  not 
be  deluded  by  the  dream  that  it  was  Elysium,  we  had  a  road 
that  might  have  better  befitted  Tartarus — a  road  that  might 
well  have  been  designed  to  torture  the  wandering  spirits  of  fla- 
gitious mules — and  of  mule-riders  too.  Sometimes  the  descents 
were  so  precipitous  that  the  creatures  almost  half  tumbled,  half 
slid  down  them  ;  at  other  times  they  had  to  go  stumbling  about 
in  break- neck  holes  of  frightful  depth,  as  if  they  were  about  to 
seek  in  a  subterranean  passage  a  solution  of  the  difficulties  of  the 
road  ! 

Another  disagreeable  circumstance  was,  that  the  strong  thorns 
belonging  to  various  prickly  shrubs,  which  encroached  on  the  nar- 
row path,  caught  our  riding  dresses,  which  were  too  long  for  this 
rugged  expedition,  and  often  nearly  dragged  us  ofF  our  saddles. 
Mine,  particularly,  which  was  of  very  strong  stuff,  several  times  as 
nearly  as  possible  drew  me  off;  for  the  mule  had  a  terribly  hard 
mouth,  and  disdained  the  most  vehement  pullings  of  the  rein,  as 
my  riding  dress  did  the  clawings  of  the  stubborn  shrubs.  On  one 
occasion,  just  as  I  hung  between  shrub  and  saddle,  it  kindly  tore, 
and  1  somehow  managed  to  find  myself  in  the  saddle  again  ;  but 
as  to  stopping  the  mule  it  was  hopeless.  Talk  of  "  Patience  on 
a  monument,"  think  of  Patience  on  a  mule! 

At  rare  intervals  a  small  clearing  would  let  the  sun  come  sud- 
denly down  upon  us,  like  a  thousand  flashes  of  scorching  lightning 
in  one  ;  but  we  had  doubled  thick  handkerchiefs,  and  tied  them 
over  our  bonnets,  so  that  we  did  not  suffer  much  from  the  power- 
ful rays.  We  gathered  the  leaves  of  the  fan-palm,  too,  and  made 
additional  head-screens  of  them ;  but  in  general  the  light  and  heat 
were  mellowed  and  softened  by  the  over-arching  roof  of  trees  I  have 
described. 

We  met  or  passed  immense  numbers  of  natives,  carrying  often 
enormous  loads,  which  they  bear,  apparently,  in  general,  without 
fatigue.  One  man,  especially,  was  burdened  by  a  huge  deal  case, 
which  looked  as  if  it  contained  a  frame  house,  at  least,  on  its  way 


310  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

to  California  ;  and  it  very  likely  was  one,  and  an  iron  house  "  at 
that  !"  He  did  look  tired,  poor  fellow ;  and  the  house,  or  what- 
ever the  mountainous  load  was,  had  slipped,  and  he  could  not  get 
it  rightly  on  again  !  He  rested  against  a  tree,  and  some  of  the 
good-natured  California-bound  emigrants,  who  were  seated  in  a 
group  hard  by,  eating  their  luncheon  and  reposing  themselves  (for 
almost  all  we  saw  walked  from  Gorgona  to  Panama,  frequently 
making  two  days  of  it),  went  to  help  him.  They  gave  him,  at 
his  request  I  believe,  a  calabash  full  of  water,  and  assisted  him  to 
place  the  gigantic  case  (with  a  small  hotel  probably  inside  it),  once 
more  firmly  and  comfortably  (!)  on  his  back.  It  was  with  some 
difficulty  he  made  room  for  our  party,  especially  our  baggage-mules 
to  pass. 

I  have  seen  the  porters  at  Constantinople  carry  most  enormous 
burdens,  but  I  think  I  never,  or  hardly  ever,  saw  so  unwieldy  a 
load  on  the  shoulders  of  mortal  man  before.  Some  of  the  Ameri- 
cans exclaimed  on  seeing  him,  "  It  must  be  only  an  empty  case  ;" 
but  that  was  not  at  all  likely,  and  the  fatigue  he  exhibited  proved 
it  was  much  beyond  the  average  weight  they  carry,  for  we  saw 
others  laden  with  large  trunks,  strutting  on  as  if  they  had  nothing 
but  a  feather  on  their  backs. 

I  have  written  of  a  man  thus  perhaps  carrying  a  house  on  his 
back  like  a  two-legged  snail ;  I  must  speak,  as  a  "  pendant"  to 
this,  of  an  account  in  an  American  paper  of  a  man  being  run  over 
by  a  house — a  curious  accident.  "  A  young  man  at  Bath,  Maine, 
met  with  a  dangerous  accident ;  a  house  ran  over  him,  breaking 
his  ribs,  and  injuring  his  lungs.  They  were  moving  the  tene- 
ment, and  he  was  caught  by  one  of  the  rollers."  We  ourselves 
met  a  mansion  taking  a  walk  last  summer,  I  recollect;  or,  I 
believe  it  was  resting  on  its  oars  at  the  moment  we  passed  by. 
This  was  on  the  borders  of  Canada. 

The  Californians,  all  with  their  gay  scarlet  flannel  shirts  (which 
they  universally  wear),  were  scattered  about  the  forest  on  all  sides, 
and"  their  brilliant  attire  was  glimpsed  through  the  woods  at  inter- 
vals ;  so  they  looked  something  like  dismounted  fox-hunters,  thus 
reminding  us  of  Leicestershire  a  little,  though  it  would  be  difficult 
to  find  any  thing  less  like  that  highly  respectable  county  than  this 
wild,  gorgeous  wilderness- forest  of  the  South.  Would  not  a  Vale 
of  Belvoir  farmer  think  poor  nature  had  gone  mad,  and  required  a 
strait-waistcoat  here  and  a  pair  of  handcuffs  1  Cheerily  sounded 
the  emigrants'  friendly  greetings  to  one  another,  and  their  inspirit- 
ing watchword ;  "  Ho  !  for  California  !"  I  could  almost  have 


THE  NATIVES  OF  THE  ISTHMUS.  311 

0 

fancied  the  "  Tally"  added  before  the  first  word,  and  the  last  two 
suppressed. 

We  had  to  ford  numerous  streams  of  water,  and  were  glad  to 
drink  at  these  from  calabashes  we  carried  at  our  saddles,  hob-and- 
nobbing  with  our  own  thirsty  mules.  We  were  now  approaching 
the  half-way  house,  where  we  were  told  the  Americans  had  erected 

a  large  tent-hotel ;  and  now  V 's  mule  showed  signs  of  his 

disagreeable  temper,  by  quietly  sitting  down  in  one  of  these  streams, 
and  thus  intimating  his  resolution  to  proceed  no  further.  Of  course 
this  could  not  be  allowed,  and  after  a  great  deal  of  persuasion  had 
been  apparently  thrown  away  upon  him,  he  suddenly  bounded  up 
and  banged  himself  against  the  trees  with  considerable  violence. 
It  was,  therefore,  necessary  he  should  be  led,  and  as  soon  as  we 
arrived  at  the  tent,  it  was  decided  he  should  be  favored  with  a  load 
of  baggage,  and  one  of  the  pack  mules  saddled  in  his  place,  one  of 
these  being  remarkably  docile,  and  only  not  ridden  because  his 
superior  strength  rendered  him  peculiarly  fitted  for  carrying  the 
trunks.  This  ill-tempered  individual  thus  got  well  punished  for 
his  impertinence  and  contumacy,  by  having  to  bear  a  heavier  bur- 
den than  he  had  before. 

Besides  the  male  natives  (who  were  almost  all  carrying  heavy 
loads),  we  met  great  numbers  of  the  female  inhabitants  of  the  country, 
generally  on  the  backs  of  mules.  We  frequently  wished  them  good 
morning  or  afternoon  in  Spanish,  and  they  returned  these  greetings 
always  most  courteously  and  kindly,  with  a  native  grace  that  was 
very  pleasing.  They  often  wished  us  a  happy  journey,  and  added 
various  compliments  on  our  riding  dresses,  which  they  thought  muy 
bonito,  O  tan  Itermosa,  and  so  on.  I  think  there  can  not  well  be  a 
more  simple-hearted  and  kindly-dispositioned  race ;  and  they  seem 
as  thoroughly  happy,  too,  as  they  are  unsophisticated,  though  cer- 
tainly their  happiness  is  not  of  an  elevated  or  intellectual  kind. 

They  appear,  I  think,  to  dislike  the  Americans  in  general,  and 
the  influx  of  the  vast  numbers  of  intruders,  that  have  almost  driven 
them  out  of  their  own  homes  since  the  discovery  of  the  California 
gold  mines,  seems  to  be  a  subject  of  sore  dissatisfaction  with  them. 
I  verily  believe  their  chief  reason  for  disliking  the  Americans  is, 
that  the  latter  give  them  some  trouble,  which  they  abhor — and 
small  blame  to  them,  in  their  delicious  do-nothing  climate,  where 
Nature  serves  them  as  the  slaves  of  the  Lamp  did  Aladdin,  in  the 
Arabian  tale  !  And  then  Los  Yankees  hurry  them,  and  can  not 
endure  those  slow  lingering  ways,  so  little  suited  to  their  own  ultra- 
Anglo-Saxon  habits  of  punctuality,  dispatch,  and  business.  When 


312  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

the  natives  took  us  for  Americans  (as  of  course  they  did,  till  we 
told  them  we  were  not  so,  hut  Inglez)  they  would  sometimes  ad- 
dress us,  as  they  evidently  thought  and  intended,  very  sarcastically, 
mimicking  people  in  a  great  hurry,  and  saying  breathlessly,  vamos, 
go-ahead  ! — Iw  !  poco  tiempo,  poco  tiempo. 

We  were  not  sorry,  after  going  up  and  down  more  ravines,  and 
gullies,  and  slippery  and  swampy  passes,  than  I  can  recount  (some- 
times, that  we  might  not  tumble  over  their  ears,  leaning  back  till 
we  almost  touched  the  tails  of  our  mules),  to  reach  the  half-way 
house,  and  stop  at  a  canvas  hotel  built  by  an  American  speculator 
in  a  small  clearing  where  the  sun  burned  with  ferocious  rays. 
However,  there  were  some  splendid  trees  near,  which  afforded  shel- 
ter for  the  mules  while  they  rested. 

We  got  some  very  nice  lemonade  and  orangeade  here,  and  had 

the  satisfaction  of  learning  that  Mrs.  H 's  poor  little  boy  had, 

by  a  lucky  accident,  found  his  way  hither  after  a  long  and  weary 
wandering  in  the  forest ;  and  his  mother  had  come  to  claim  him, 
having  fortunately  heard  this  fact  as  she  was  prosecuting  her  dis- 
consolate search  not  far  off.  The  poor  little  fellow  fell  fast  asleep 
as  soon  as  they  laid  him  on  a  rude  couch  here,  and  it  was  thus, 
wrapped  in  slumber,  she  found  him.  The  generous-hearted  Ameri- 
can who  told  rne  the  touching  tale,  could  hardly  repress  his  emo- 
tion as  he  described  the  intense  feeling  of  the  poor  mother,  as  she 
clasped  her  recovered  treasure  to  her  heart. 

But  such  is  the  American  :  while  he  will  affront  with  the  ut- 
most carelessness  all  kinds  of  hardships,  dangers,  and  privations, 
and  display  under  the  most  appalling  circumstances  the  firmest 
presence  of  mind — as  if,  like  Nelson  in  his  boyhood,  "  he  had  never 
seen  fear,"  and  could  not  understand  what  it  meant — his  noble 
feelings  will  thrill  at  a  tale  of  the  sorrow  of  others,  and  his  heroism 
fails  him  when  some  affecting  incident  appeals  to  his  unselfish  and 
generous  sympathies.  If  the  true  hero-nature  lives  any  where  it 
is  in  the  American :  if  the  age  of  chivalry  is  not  past — though 
Burke  declared  it  was,  in  the  Old  World  of  Europe — if,  in  short, 
chivalry  still  exists  on  earth,  it  is  in  the  great  and  mighty  West. 
I  think  I  see  a  satirical  smile  on  the  reader's  lips,  although  so 
many  thousands  of  miles  divide  us ;  and  I  know  if  I  were  in  a 
London  drawing-room  what  a  chorus  would  be  raised  of  "  dollars 
and  cents !"  &c.,  but  I  boldly  write  what  I  most  conscientiously 
believe  :  and  how  absurd  it  is  to  keep  harping  on  one  fault  (and  it 
really  seems  almost  their  only  one),  as  if  either  a  nation  or  an  in- 
dividual could  be  absolutely  perfect ! 


AN  ADVENTURE.  313 


I  heard  another  adventure  of  poor  little  George  here.  The  pro- 
prietor of  the  hotel  apologized  very  courteously  for  not  having  a 
wholly  unoccupied  room  to  show  us  into,  as  a  poor  sick  gentleman, 
was  sitting  down  in  his  principal  apartment ;  and  he  proceeded  to 

tell  me  Mrs.  H 's  unlucky  child  had  fallen  into  the  Chagres, 

having  leaned  over  the  boat  and  overbalanced  himself,  and  that 
this  gentleman  had  plunged  into  the  river,  and  at  great  risk  and 
with  considerable  difficulty,  had  saved  him  from  perishing.  But, 
during  his  generous  exertions  he  had  become,  by  some  accident, 
jammed  in  between  two  canoes,  and  had  had  several  ribs  broken, 
and  was  otherwise  much  injured.  On  arriving  at  Gorgona,  how- 
ever— it  appeared,  contrary  to  advice — his  gallant  spirit  impelled 
him  to  proceed,  though  in  a  very  suffering  state  ;  and  assuring 

Mrs.  H ,  who  was  naturally  anxious  on  his  account,  after  his 

noble  exertions  on  behalf  of  her  little  son,  that  the  hurts  he  had 
sustained  were  very  immaterial,  he  started  for  Panama,  but  be- 
came so  ill  and  exhausted  before  he  arrived  at  the  canvas  posada, 
that  he  found  it  indispensably  necessary  to  remain  till  his  recruited 
strength  should  enable  him  to  proceed. 

He  came  to  speak  to  us,  and  seemed  anxious  Mrs.  H should 

not  be  distressed  or  alarmed  on  his  account,  saying  it  was  nothing, 
and  we  must  tell  her,  when  we  saw  her,  that  in  a  day  or  two  he 
should  be  all  right.  But  he  looked  exceedingly  ill  and  haggard, 
and  seemed  to  be  suffering  much.  He  was,  I  believe,  no  acquaint- 
ance of  hers,  but  was  accidentally  passing  by  at  the  moment. 

The  guides  and  Mozos  took  a  terribly  long  time  here  to  unpack 
and  transfer  the  baggage  of  one  of  the  pack  mules  to  the  one  who 
had  such  an  "  ugly"  temper.  At  last  we  rejoiced  to  find  it  was 
all  ready,  and,  without  further  delay,  we  jumped  into  the  saddles, 
anxious  to  lose  no  more  time  than  had  already  been  unavoidably 
sacrificed,  in  continuing  our  journey  to  the  Pacific  coast.  Off  we 
went,  and  off  nearly  went  all  the  boxes,  provision-cases,  and  valises 
that  had  been  transferred  to  the  unsafe  keeping  of  that  evil-disposed 
mule. 

There  was  a  very  steep  hill  to  slide  down  almost  directly  after 
leaving  the  half-way  house,  and  it  was  an  excessively  narrow  path. 
We  had  barely  got  beyond  the  entrance  to  this,  when  the  in- 
furiated mule  in  the  wildest  rage  at  having  these  unwonted 
burdens  packed  on  his  back,  attempted  to  dart  past  us,  and,  in  so 
doing,  nearly  knocked  one  of  the  riders  off'  her  saddle.  Great  was 
the  consternation  among  us :  we  contrived  by  some  means  or 
other — I  have  not  the  least  idea  how — to  make  our  mules  clamber 

C 


314  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

up  the  least  steep  precipice-like  acclivities  of  the  banks,  which 
rose  on  either  side  of  the  narrow  pass,  and  we  had  a  capital  view 
of  the  long-eared  delinquent  tearing  down  the  steep  hill  like  a 
crazy  thing,  sending  the  other  poor  baggage-mules  right  and  left 
(who  happily  declined  a  kicking-sweepstakes),  as  if  they  were  of 
no  more  account  to  their  unnatural  brother  than  our  despised 
carpet-bags,  which  he  was  throwing  about  as  a  juggler  does  balls. 

What  a  sight  to  us  it  was  to  see  those  two  scornful  heels  send- 
ing our  innocent  valises  in  all  directions ;  it  was  a  frightful  spec- 
tacle, and  alas  !  the  provisions  !  Heels,  in  place  of  hands,  present- 
ing refreshments — so  awkwardly,  backward,  too — it  was  unendur- 
able. To  see  one's  dinner  a  quarter  of  a  mile  up  in  the  air,  and 
one's  supper  a  quarter  of  a  mile  down  in  a  swamp,  was  not 
exhilarating.  It  would  not  have  been  surprising,  as  the  kicking- 
mule  careered  onward,  had  we  been  struck  by  Parthian  drum- 
sticks, or  rained  upon  by  portable  soup  (only  there  was  none  of 
the  last).  At  length  this  disreputable  quadruped  was  caught,  and 
the  packages  were  collected,  and  the  whole  process  of  packing  had 
to  be  gone  through  with  again.  There  we  sate,  watching  that 
seemingly  interminable  arranging  of  boxes  and  bags,  and  wonder- 
ing whether  the  cantankerous  animal  would  play  at  ball  with 
them  all  again,  or  get  up  any  other  little  extempore  divertissement 
for  our  amusement. 

After  waiting  for  an  immense  time,  we  were  once  more  able  to 
proceed ;  but  the  mules  \vere  no  longer  as  brisk  as  they  had  been. 
They  had  been  out  a  long  while,  and  had  had  very  hard  work ;  and 
while  we  were  more  anxious  to  hurry  on  to  make  up  for  lost  time, 
they  were  more  desirous  of  loitering  on  their  toilsome  way.  Poor 
things  !  one  could  not  wonder  at  it ;  but  it  was  tiresome,  and, 
besides  this,  we  had  not  got  rid  of  all  annoyance  from  the  rebel. 
It  appeared  quite  out  of  place  in  its  new  situation,  and  was 
avoided  by  common  consent,  being  clearly  not  on  speaking  terms 
with  the  baggage-mules,  who  considered  it  a  mere  interloper.  It 
was  sent  to  Coventiy  by  the  saddle-mules,  too,  whom  it  had  dis- 
graced. 

Restless  and  irritable,  I  think  it  must  have  been  a  poet  among 
mules — or  genius  of  some  kind :  it  would  lag  behind,  and  then 
suddenly,  probably  driven  on  by  the  guides,  rush  forward  like  a 
maniac,  and  half  stab  us  with  a  sharp  corner  of  a  pormanteau,  or 
thump  against  us  one  of  our  own  unconscious  carpet-bags.  We 
found  these  visitations  so  unpleasant,  that  we  resolved  not  to  allow 
the  animal  to  play  us  such  tricks  any  more.  We  therefore  insisted 


HUMANE  TRAVELER.  315 

on  his  being  kept  in  front,  and  the  moment  he  showed  symptoms 
of  delaying  on  his  way,  we  set  up  with  one  accord  the  peculiar 
sound  the  Mozos  make  to  encourage  or  threaten  the  mules ;  and 
this  vocal  melody,  which  was  assisted  by  the  powerful  arguments 
and  voices  of  the  guides  (who  probably  performed  an  obligate  stick- 
accompaniment  to  the  chorus),  had  fortunately  the  desired  effect. 
But,  no  doubt,  the  creature,  not  accustomed  to  being  a  pack-mule, 
became  really  fatigued,  and  paused  frequently,  not  with  evil  inten- 
tions, but  to  rest.  However,  such  bugbears  had  our  own  tame 
boxes  become  to  us  (and  driven  against  you  by  a  headstrong  mule, 
they  are  formidable  weapons),  that  we  continued  to  urge  it  to  go 
on  before  us  by  the  cries  we  had  learned  from  the  guides,  and  our 
voices  had  but  little  rest,  any  more  than  the  foolish  mule  had. 

It  was  almost  constantly  "  stopping  the  way."  We  had  no 
sooner  driven  it  on  than  it  paused  again  :  it  was  like  one  of  those 
great  buzzing,  teasing  flies  that,  toward  the  end  of  summer,  per- 
fectly haunt  you,  and  if  expelled  from  your  hand,  are  found  on 
your  face,  and  so  on.  Now  we  found  our  friend  sticking  on  a 
bank,  threatening  to  tumble  down  on  us  if  we  went  on,  like  an 
avalanche  of  mule  and  mangas  ;  and  now  just  standing  across  our 
path  :  and  now  again  he  would  turn  short  round,  as  if  to  dare  us 
to  single  combat,  and  sometimes  would  play  at  bo-peep  behind  the 
trees — in  short,  he  was  the  dread  and  horror  of  us  all,  and  a  cry 
of  "  here  he  comes!"  was  sufficient  to  send  us  all  helter-skelter. 

A  weary  American  trudging  on  alone  under  an  accumulation  of 
afflictions,  in  the  shape  of  blankets,  bundles,  cloaks,  and  knapsacks, 
whom  we  overtook,  had  compassion  on  the  poor  naughty  mule, 
and  humanely  interfered  in  its  behalf.  "  Indeed,  ladies,  I  think 
the  creature's  nigh  tired  out :  better  let  him  rest  a  little."  But 
we  had  lost  so  much  precious  time  by  these  various  unforeseen 
misfortunes,  that  we  could  not  stop,  and  we  knew  by  experience 
what  allowing  the  four-footed  culprit  to  loiter  behind  would  bring 
on  us,  and  the  horrible  nudging  of  trunks  and  elbowing  of  boxes,  to 
which  we  should  subject  ourselves,  probably  to  the  demolition  of 
our  ribs.  So  we  declined  this  ;  and  the  state  of  the  case  was  ex- 
plained to  the  humane  traveler,  and,  as  he  looked  almost  fagged 
to  death  beneath  his  mountain  pile  of  luggage  (and  as  a  reward  for 
his  humanity  to  our  tired  tormentor),  I  begged  him  to  put  part  of 
his  heavy  load  on  one  of  our  lightly-laden  mules,  which  he  gladly 
did. 

We  were  now  at  a  more  open  part  of  the  road,  but  soon  again 
we  plunged  into  a  thick  forest  for  a  short  time,  and  then  arrived 


316  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

at  a  partial  clearing.  The  daylight  now  was  beginning  to  wane, 
and  I  was  surprised  to  see  one  of  the  leading  mules  taken  by  the 
guides  out  of  the  road  along  a  smooth  path  to  the  right.  The  rest 
of  course  followed,  and  on  inquiring  what  was  the  reason,  the  head 
guide  came  and  said,  in  consequence  of  the  unfortunate  delay  it 
would  be  safer  to  wait  at  an  Indian  village  in  the  wood  till 
morning,  as  the  road  further  on  was  very  rough  and  bad,  and  the 
forest  so  impenetrably  thick  that  it  would  be  very  dark  ;  also,  that 
one  of  the  guides  with  the  baggage-mules  had  hurt  his  ankle  very 
badly  in  scrambling  among  some  stumps  and  blocks  of  stone,  and 
that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  he  should  rest. 

After  a  little  parleying  and  demurring,  I  consented  to  remain  at 
this  Indian  village  till  the  moon  rose  (when,  as  it  was  full,  it  would 
be  a  little  lighter  than  most  days  in  England) ;  and  wishing  good- 
night to  the  weary  American  traveler,  who  was  "  bound"  to  join 
some  of  his  companions  at  an  American  encampment  a  little  way 
beyond,  and  who  did  not  seem  much  to  like  the  prospect  of  thread- 
ing the  dark  mazes  of  forest  alone  without  the  protection  of  our 
escort,  we  pursued  our  way  to  the  Indian  village. 

We  found  one  or  two  of  our  mules  already  unpacked,  and  the 
poor  guide  who  had  hurt  his  ankle,  evidently  in  much  pain.  I 
told  the  head  man  we  were  expected  at  Panama,  and  must  posi- 
tively start  when  the  moon  rose,  and  then  we  proceeded  to  examine 
our  quarters.  But  we  found  this  hut  by  far  the  most  horrible  of 
any  we  had  yet  seen  any  where.  It  was  entirely  full  of  a  dense 
suffocating  smoke,  and  there  were  I  do  not  know  how  many  old 
women  and  squalling  children,  and  dogs,  and  rats,  and  toads,  and 
mice,  and  probably  ducks,  and  pigs,  and  turkeys,  and  chickens, 
besides,  of  course,  an  unlimited  allowance  of  entomological  curiosi- 
ties. 

"The  chief  old  woman,  who  was  very  good-natured  and  kind, 
compassionating  the  horror  with  which  we  regarded  the  accommo- 
dations of  this  cane-caravansary  (that  seemed  a  Noah's  Ark  on  dry 
land),  brought  us  out,  at  our  request,  a  comfortable  bench,  and  we 
seated  ourselves  there,  not  feeling  very  sleepy  or  tired,  arid  exceed- 
ingly interested  by  the  spectacle  of  the  tropical  forest  by  starlight. 
But  such  a  noise  as  there  was  in  that  same  forest !  It  seemed  a 
perfect  Babel  of  brutes,  and  birds,  and  insects,  and  reptiles  :  there 
were  roarings,  and  howlings,  and  barkings,  and  hissings,  and  yell- 
ings,  and  jabberings.  Whether  a  fashionable  tiger-cat  held  a  con- 
versazione that  evening,  or  some  learned  monkeys  were  imitating 
the  ways  of  rnan,  and  making  interminable  speeches  in  a  congress 


JOURNEY  TO  PANAMA  RESUMED.  317 

or  parliament  of  their  own,  I  know  not ;  but  it  seemed  to  me  there 
never  was  such  a  collection  of  chatter-boxes  got  together  before. 
Poor  dumb  beasts,  indeed  !  it  was  a  perfect  "  clatter  versus  patter," 
which  almost  drowned  the  squalling  of  the  children,  and  chiding 
of  the  women  inside  the  hut,  and  the  growling  remonstrances  of  an 
old  man  who  interposed  his  paternal  authority  every  now  and  then, 
and  ordered  them  all  to  sleep  immediately. 

But  not  for  long !  The  clamor  outside,  it  seemed,  re-awoke 
them  ;  and  if  the  denizens  of  the  forest  seemed  inclined  to  nod,  the 
din  of  the  huts  roused  them  again — so  they  appeared  to  keep  each 
other  always  awake. 

I  wonder  if  any  thing  could  have  composed  them  to  a  nap.  If 
one  had  preached  them  a  very  long  sermon,  or  recited  to  them  an 
extensive  speech  of  Mr.  Anstey's  in  our  House  of  Commons,  it 
might  have  lulled  them  to  sleep.  Let  this  gentleman  pardon  me, 
for  I  do  not  mention  his  as  exceeding  others  in  heaviness — only  in 
length.  As  to  which  is  the  dullest  among  all  the  speeches  delivered 
there,  the  powers  forbid  that  I  should  have  to  decide  :  for  "  in  that 
lowest  deep,  a  lower  deep,"  &c. 

At  length  the  moon  rose  in  her  glory,  and  a  beautiful  sight  that 
moon-rising  was.  I,  vigilant  and  wakeful,  without  loss  of  time, 
went  round  to  the  back  of  the  hut,  and  called  up  the  guides,  who 
after  a  proper  quantity  of  dawdling,  excuses,  mule-losing  (I  think 
they  had  left  one  unpicketed,  on  purpose),  and  sauntering,  sat 
down  again  composedly  by  a  little  fire  of  sticks  they  had  kindled, 
and  said  sleepily  the  mule  would  come  (I  make  no  doubt  it  was 
our  long-eared  torment  of  the  previous  day) — the  mule  would  find 
herself ;  they  must  have  a  little  breakfast.  And  they  accordingly 
breakfasted  on  a  cigar  each,  and  then  began  saunter  the  second. 
At  length,  to  our  glee,  the  truant  was  found,  the  packing  com- 
pleted, and  off  we  started  for  Panama. 


CHAPTER    XLI. 

The  Journey  to  Panama  resumed — Beauty  of  the  Moon-light — The  paved 
Causeway — First  View  of  the  Pacific — The  American's  Opinion  of  the  old 
Spaniards — And  of  the  present  Natives  of  the  Isthmus — Arrival  at  Panama 
— The  City — The  Grand  Plaza — The  Bay — The  Cathedral — Jesuit  Church 
and  College — Ruinous  Condition  of  Panama — Americans  in  Panama  bound 
for  California — The  Climate  of  Panama — Breezes  from  the  Pacific — Gen- 
eral M Insects  and  Reptiles  in  Panama — The  Fire-Beetle — The 

Family  of  Madame  H A  social  Custom  in  Panama — Half-starved 

Horses  and  Mules — Panama  becoming  Americanized — The  Carriages  in 
that  City. 

IT  was  moonlight  when  we  resumed  our  journey  ; — and  such  a 
moon — earth,  air,  and  sky  were  all  swathed  up  like  costly  treas- 
ures in  glittering  cloth  of  silver !  it  was  resplendent.  We  had 
much  admired,  during  the  night,  the  glorious  Southern  Cross,  and 
another  lovely  constellation,  also  very  much  in  the  form  of  a  cross  : 
all  was  so  beautiful,  that  heaven  and  earth  seemed  almost  con- 
tending for  the  palm  of  loveliness. 

We  rode  silently  on,  overwhelmed  with  admiration,  and  after 
going  for  some  time  through  the  thick  forest,  which  made  the 
moonlight  appear  like  a  soft  illumination  through  an  emerald-col- 
ored glass  or  transparency,  we  suddenly  emerged  from  the  woods 
on  a  clearing ;  and  so  dazzling  and  glorious  was  the  flood  of  light 

that  poured  down  upon  us,  that  I  exclaimed  to  V-;: ,  that  we 

must  have  been  mistaken  in  the  hour,  as  it  was  broad  daylight. 
But  a  glance  overhead,  where  the  triumphant  suzerain  of  the 
night  was  riding  in  her  zenith,  pouring,  I  may  say  snowing  down 
rays  of  intense  white  light  on  every  side,  undeceived  me.  It  was 
truly  splendid  :  the  air  seemed  all  powdered  crystal,  or  shivered 
diamonds.  The  heavenly  arch  looked  so  high,  and  so  clear,  that 
the  eye  seemed  to  see  for  a  million  of  mites,  up  and  up,  and  the 
air  appeared  all  One  Star;  verily,  the  glory  sank  and  melted  into 
the  very  soul. 

Some  of  our  mules  had  become  very  lazy.  I  do  not  think  they 
had  had  enough  food  when  we  stopped,  and  our  lame  guide  limp- 
ing slowly  on,  caused  our  cavalcade  to  journey  at  a  very  gentle 
pace.  At  length,  the  morning  dawned,  the  sun  rose,  and  we  began 
to  look  out  with  intense  anxiety  for  the  mighty  Pacific ;  but  the 
intervening  hills  still  screened  this  king  of  oceans  from  our  longing 


FIRST  VIEW  OF  THE  PACIFIC.  319 

/ 

gaze.     The  road  was  extremely  bad  and  rough,  but  we  were  too 
eager  to  mind  that  very  much. 

The  mule  in  disgrace  was  almost  forgiven,  but  the  pas  was  still 
scrupulously  given  to  her — no  question  of  precedence  was  ever  at- 
tended to  with  more  rigid  etiquette.  We  did  not  at  all  agree  with 
Lady  Macbeth,  "  Stand  not  upon  the  order  of  your  going ;"  our 
very  mules,  so  taught  and  trained  by  us  the  day  before,  seemed  in- 
clined when  their  treacherous  comrade  lagged  a  little,  to  make  a 
sidling  courtesy,  and  wait  till  she  resumed  the  lead.  She  was  still 
sent  to  Coventry  ;  and  if  it  was  she  who  was  lost  in  the  forest  that 
morning,  it  was  doubtless  owing  to  her  going  to  have  a  chat  with 
some  wildcat  or  monkey,  who  did  not  know  what  mauvaise  odeur 
the  creature  was  in. 

At  last  the  rugged  causeway  seemed  a  trifle  better,  and  we  met 
numerous  groups  on  foot  and  horseback,  and  felt  we  were  getting 
near  the  coast.  This  paved  causeway  is  said  by  some  to  have 
been  made  by  the  buccaneers  when  they  were  in  possession  of 
Panama ;  by  others,  to  be  the  remains  of  an  excellent  road  left 
by  the  old  Spaniards.  As  to  its  state  in  some  parts  now — like 
that  of  the  pack  of  hounds  described  by  a  boy  some  years  ago, 
as  wanting  nothing  but  new  horses,  new  huntsmen,  and  new 
hounds — it  only  requires  new  stones,  new  paving,  new  workmen, 
and  a  new  road. 

Soon  after  we  had  to  cross  a  savanna,  and  we  still  kept  our 
eyes  fixed  on  the  horizon,  forgetting  even  the  kicking  mule,  who 
took  the  opportunity  of  waiting  behind,  and  coming  up  again  with 
one  of  her  peculiar  Chifney  rushes,  after  which,  she  and  the  Pacific 
contended  for  our  anxious  regards  and  attention,  and  they  ran  a 
rather  severe  race,  the  majestic  Pacific  (a  splendid  bay)  winning 
at  last  only  by  a  nose — so  nearly  was  it  a  dead  heat. 

And  now  our  guides  stopped  at  a  hovel  near  the  road,  and  dan- 
dified themselves  prodigiously.  I  suppose  they  have  a  depot  of 
sombreros  there,  and  of  handkerchiefs  and  various  toggery.  The 
poor  lame  Mozo  stopped  at  this  place ;  he  could  proceed  no  fur- 
ther ;  so,  with  a  diminished  escort,  we  prepared  to  enter  into  the 
city.  At  last  the  glorious  Pacific  carne  in  sight,  and  magnificent 
it  looked  ;  but  so  long  had  I  looked  forward  to  this  happy  moment, 
and  dwelt  in  fancy  on  the  pleasure  of  beholding  this  mighty  ocean, 
that  it  seemed  more  like  hailing  again  an  old  friend,  than  meeting 
a  new  one. 

Somewhere  near  that  part  of  the  road,  we  crossed  a  handsome, 
though  rather  dilapidated  bridge,  over  a  stream.  An  American 


320  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

was  sitting  down  to  rest  there,  and  as  I  passed  by,  drew  my  at- 
tention to  it,  saying  it  was  almost  the  first  mark  of  civilization,  he 
had  seen  in  the  country. 

"  And  it  was  built  by  the  old  Spaniards,"  he  said,  "the  natives 
tell  me,  as  every  thing  else  was  that  they  have  that's  worth  show- 
ing. The  old  Spaniards  did  nobly  by  the  country ;  but  they 
won't  even  keep  their  works  in  repair.  Some  are  gone,  and  some 
are  going,  and  these  niggers  get  more  and  more  like  savages." 

The  compliment  to  old  Spain  I  fully  agreed  in,  but  not  in  his 
sweeping  censure  on  the  natives  of  the  Isthmus.  Though  idle 
they  certainly  appear  to  be,  I  think  their  government  may  bear 
great  part  of  this  blame.  A  republican  form  of  government  is  not, 
can  not  be  suited  to  people  so  utterly  unprepared  for  the  onerous  task 
of  self-government,  unfitted  by  nature,  and  unaided  by  education. 

It  was  not  long  before  we  were  trampling  along  the  streets  of 
the  old  picturesque  city  of  Panama,  among  groups  of  natives,  and 
scarlet-garbed  Americans,  who,  as  we  passed,  asked  us  a  question 
that  had  been  put  to  us  frequently  along  the  road,  always  with 
the  greatest  civility. 

"  You're  one  of  the  '  Georgia's  passengers,  I  think,  ma'am  ?" 

"Yes." 

"  Have  you  seen  many  parties  still  on  the  road  ?"  &c. 

I  was  much  struck  by  the  first  sight  of  Panama,  ruined  and 
neglected  as  it  appeared.  The  suburbs,  however,  were  even  less 
imposing  than  such  parts  of  a  city  usually  are,  consisting  of  tum- 
ble-down Indian  huts,  squalid  and  poverty-stricken,  some  patches 
of  cultivated  ground,  and  some  antiquated  rancfos.  Afterward 
we  crossed  the  line  of  the  old  fortifications  (strong  walls  and  ram- 
parts still  surround  the  town) ;  and  we  immediately  came  to  some 
noble  edifices,  proud  and  princely,  though  in  a  ruined  state. — 
Their  sad  condition  is  almost  vailed,  and  their  decay  beautified, 
by  the  profuse  and  brilliant  vegetation  that  has  poured  over  them 
— as  the  sea  closes,  with  its  bright  and  flashing  waters,  above  a 
wreck. 

We  rode  through  the  Grand  Plaza,  which  was  then  thronged 
with  people,  among  whom  were  crowds  of  Americans  ;  and  we 
passed  an  extremely  noble  church,  and  an  old  convent  of  great 
architectural  beauty,  ornamented  with  very  handsome  pillars,  with 
Corinthian  capitals. 

Panama  is  beautifully  situated.  The  lovely  bay  has  been  often 
compared  to  the  famous  harbor  of  Rio  Janeiro.  The  city  stands 
upon  a  tongue  of  land  that  runs  far  out  to  sea,  enHino-  i'n  •>  ^ 


CHURCH  OF  SAN  FELIPE.  3Q1 

point  that  is  partially  overflowed  at  high  tide.  Its  many  decayed 
but  stately  churches,  its  venerable  dilipidated  monasteries  and 
mouldering  convents,  boasting  many  architectural  perfections,  and 
crowned  with  the  picturesque  vegetation  of  the  Torrid  Zone, 
wherever  time  has  made  melancholy  rents — its  noble  stone  build- 
ings, terraced  and  balconied — its  ancient  fortifications,  and  broad 
plazas,  and,  in  the  vicinity,  its  numerous  gardens  and  flourishing 
orchards,  villas,  and  ranches  and  haciendas,  and  grounds  for  pas- 
turage, and  groves  of  palms,  all  render  it  striking  and  highly  inter- 
esting. The  longer  I  stay,  the  more  I  admire  its  situation,  which 
at  the  base  of  this  range  of  beautiful  hills,  with  the  Pacific  wash- 
ing three  sides  of  its  tapering  promontory,  is  very  grand. 

One  broad  and  verdant  mountain,  deluged  in  vegetation,  up- 
rears  its  graceful  crest  close  behind  it ;  and  a  chain  of  other 
noble  mountains,  crowned  with  forests,  beyond  the  southeastern 
shore  of  the  bay,  appears  perpetually  enveloped  in  soft  vapory 
clouds,  which  make  them,  perhaps,  seem  higher  than  they  are  in 
reality. 

We  had  the  other  evening  a  delightful  walk  on  the  ramparts  : 
they  command  an  enchanting  view  of  the  bay.  and  a  series  of 
green  and  fertile  islands,  among  which  Taboga  is  the  most  beau- 
tiful. The  towers  and  churches  of  the  fine  old  town,  so  pictur- 
esque and  touching  in  its  decay  (at  the  foot  of  those  indestructible 
hills,  appareled  in  the  undecaying  pomp  of  tropical  nature),  nearly 
a  hundred  miles  of  fruitful  shores  exposed  to  the  vision,  which 
takes  in  the  grand  curve  of  the  gulf,  and  the  miniature  bays  and 
creeks  fringed  profusely  with  the  feathery  palms,  and  those  beau- 
teous islands  and  forests,  and  the  mountains  afar,  and  the  mighty 
ocean  rolling  its  foamy  surf,  with  its  solemn,  measured  march,  high 
up  on  the  shore,  all  united  to  make  the  scene  one  of  consummate 
beauty  and  grandeur. 

The  venerable  cathedral  here  is  a  very  fine  building ;  and  what 
is  left  of  the  ancient  Jesuit  church  of  San  Felipe  is  extremely 
imposing.  The  magnificent  arches  spanning  the  nave  are  wreath- 
ed and  crowned  by  a  forest  of  wild  vines  and  luxuriant  shrubbery 
and  these  rich  masses  of  foliage  form  here  and  there  a  partial 
roof  for  the  otherwise  uncovered  building.  A  stately  college, 
which  had  never  been  completed,  looks  on  one  of  the  plazas.  Its 
pillars  and  pilasters  are  splintered  and  decaying ;  but  Nature  has 
stepped  in.  and  thrown  her  own  mantle  of  glory  around  the  fading 
beauties  of  her  sister,  Art.  There  are  some  Franciscan  and 
Augustinian  monasteries  here  in  tolerable  preservation  ;  but,  alto- 

o* 


322  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

gether,  I  certainly  never  beheld  any  thing  like  the  desolation  and 
decay  to  be  witnessed  during  a  short  walk  in  Panama. 

In  almost  every  street  may  be  seen  several  ruins ;  had  I  not 
been  prepared  for  the  general  state  of  dilapidation  in  which  this 
once  prosperous  city  is  now,  I  should  have  thought,  on  the  first 
glance,  a  succession  of  dreadful  fires  had  lately  taken  place  here, 
from  the  dreary  multitude  of  yawning  chasms  on  all  sides,  where 
edifices  of  different  kinds  have  been. 

Nay,  at  ihefonda  where  we  first  were  staying,  we  needed  not  to 
walk  out  to  see  ruins,  for  in  front  of  the  hotel  was  a  gaping  space, 
lumbered  with  tottering,  roofless  walls,  and  overgrown  by  shrubs, 
bananas,  and  a  hanging  wilderness  of  climbing  plants.  On  the 
old  ramparts,  with  their  massive,  frowning  battlements,  may  still 
be  seen  some  antique  guns  of  Old  Spain  :  they  are  said  to  be  made 
of  the  beautiful  and  costly  bronze  of  Barcelona. 

As  a  fortified  town,  Panama,  notwithstanding  its  being  girt  by 
strong  and  solid  walls,  can  not  be  said  to  be  placed  in  a  favorable 
position.  It  appears  to  be  entirely  commanded  by  the  hill  behind 
it,  which  is  easy  of  access,  and  planted  on  which,  the  artillery  of 
a  foe  might  completely  batter  and  destroy  all  its — ruins ! 

We  live  very  quietly  here,  and  I  hear  but  little  of  California ; 
but  I  was  told  the  other  day,  there  are  about  ten  steamers  lately 
gone,  or  on  the  eve  of  going  there,  from  hence.  Still,  vast  num- 
bers of  Americans  are  detained  here,  unable  to  proceed  to  their 
destination.  A  little  while  ago,  they  say,  there  were  between 
two  and  three  thousand>  here.  Most  of  them  encamp  near  the 
town,  and  some,  I  am  afraid,  suffer  many  privations  and  hard- 
ships from  the  delay  they  are  exposed  to. 

I  have  just  heard,  since  I  wrote  the  above,  that  nearly  a  thou- 
sand Americans  started  yesterday,  in  different  steam  vessels,  for 
California.  They  are  generally  a  superior  class  of  emigrants  that 
come  this  way,  as  it  is  an  expensive  route,  and  the  "  rough  lots," 
as  they  often  term  them,  ordinarily  go  across  the  plains  with  their 
wagons  and  tents,  or  by  the  tedious  way  of  Cape  Horn.  Tickets 
have  been  at  a  tremendous  price,  and  it  is  said  great  impositions 
have  been  sometimes  practiced  on  the  more  inexperienced  or  easy 
emigrants. 

Yesterday  I  was  suffering  much  from  that  odious  hay  asthma 
again,  which  I  had  last  spring.  But  for  this,  I  might  be  return- 
ing now,  or  very  shortly,  to  catch  the  English  steamer  at  Chagres  ; 
but  I  fear  I  shall  not  be  able  to  do  so  just  yet.  It  is  at  this  time 
of  year,  only,  one  is  subject  to  these  attacks,  and  if  I  were  at  sea 


MEXICO  AND  THE  MEXICANS.  323 

now,  or  in  the  heart  of  a  city,  or  on  a  desert  plain,  I  should  no 
doubt  entirely  escape  this  infliction  ;  but  in  the  midst  of  the  mu- 
nificence and  luxuriance  of  Nature  here  (for  this  seems  a  city  and 
garden,  and  forest  in  one),  trailing  her  glorious  masses  of  foliage 
to  the  very  shores  of  the  Pacific,  and  flinging  her  living  earthly 
beauty — clad  in  those  royal  robes — almost  into  its  majestic  waves 
(her  grandest  watery  empire),  I  am  thus  victimized  and  torment- 
ed. Were  I  seeking  for  poor  Sir  John  Franklin  now,  amidst  the 
barren  Arctic  ice,  probably  this  vile  enemy  would  keep  at  a  re- 
spectful distance ;  but  here,  where  a  mighty  Pacific  Ocean  of 
streaming  flowers  and  foliage  overflows  into  the  sister  Pacific  of 
pearls,  and  shells,  and  rolling  billows,  and  flashing  waves,  it  piti- 
lessly assails  me. 

Not  so,  however,  in  equally  beautiful  Mexico ;  but  that  is,  I 
think,  a  most  peculiar  and  matchless  climate,  the  Elysium  of  the 
world  ;  bracing  as  England,  beautiful  as  Italy — nay,  far  more  so 
and  blazing  with  the  unutterable  glory  of  the  richest  and  rarest 
tropical  splendors.  Mexico  really  seems  hardly  of  the  earth,  and 
the  high-sounding  name  the  Chinese  claim  so  presumptuously  for 
their  country,  would  scarcely  appear  to  be  a  figure  of  speech,  if 
applied  to  lovely,  matchless  Mexico, — "  The  Central  Flowery 
Land,  the  Celestial  Empire." 

Perhaps  the  people  may  not  be  quite  worthy  of  it — what  people 
on  earth  could  be  ?  but  they  appreciate  and  love  it,  I  think, 
deeply ;  and  for  a  traveler  they  are  just  the  population  for  it ! 
They  may  want,  to  a  certain  extent,  energy,  enterprise,  solidity, 
habits  of  business,  and  even,  in  some  respects,  patriotism ;  but 
they  are,  I  think,  the  most  splendidly  picturesque  people  (not  ex- 
cepting even  the  Greeks — that  is,  the  Albanian  Greeks)  in  the 
whole  world.  They  dress  their  country  well  !  they  become  and 
grace  that  beauteous  land,  and  do  its  outward  aspect  justice,  by 
thus  adorning  it  appropriately  with  their  romantic-looking  selves, 
and  their  magnificent  drapery-like  serapes. 

We  had  some  splendid  singing  and  playing  here  the  other  night 
from  a  young  French  gentleman  (partly  of  Spanish  origin),  M.  do 
M.,  who  is  on  his  way  to  Valparaiso  and  Buenos  Ayres,  from 

Paris.  He  is  staying  with  Monsieur  Le  C ,  the  agreeable 

and  amiable  French  consul.  He  sang  admirably,  and  his  instru- 
mental performances  were  extraordinarily  fine  (there  is  an  excel- 
lent piano-forte  in  the  drawing-room  here).  M.  de  M.'s  musical 
memory  appears  to  be  prodigious:  he  seems  to  know  almost  all 
the  modern  operas  through  by  heart,  and  his  singings  out  of  the 


324  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

"  Prophete,"  "  Beatrice,"  &c.,  were  magnificent.  Miss  P.  sings 
extremely  well,  and  she  accompanied  him  very  charmingly  in 
some  duets. 

There  is  a  delicious  breeze  blowing  to-day  through  my  wide- 
open  windows  from  the  Pacific,  and  it  almost  carries  away  my 
paper  as  I  write.  The  breeze  seems  getting  stronger  (it  is  too 
hot  to  shut  the  window),  and  my  writing  stands  a  considerable 
chance  of  being  wafted  off  to  the  "  Grand  Ocean,"  as  they  call 
the  mighty  Pacific. 

I  went  a  little  time  ago  to  see  my  amiable  acquaintance,  Mrs. 

H .     I  found  her  at  home,  and  Mrs. also,  who  is  at  the 

same  hotel.  I  saw  the  poor  little  boy  who  had  had  such  narrow 
escapes ;  he  has  hardly  yet  recovered  his  terrible  and  fatiguing 
walk.  His  mother  tells  me,  when  she  first  saw  him,  he  was 
much,  altered  in  appearance,  and  his  throat  was  frightfully  swollen 
— she  thought  from  over-exertion  and  frequent  exposure  to  the 
sun  ;  but  it  appears  to  me  probable,  he  may  have  eaten  something 
injurious  during  his  weary  march,  that  may  have  produced  such 
an  effect.  Poor  little  fellow !  his  chief  distress  seems  to  have 
been  the  anxiety  and  alarm  that  he  was  aware  his  mother  must 

be  undergoing  during  his  prolonged  absence.     Mrs.  H hopes 

to  start  for  California  in  a  steamer  that  goes  in  a  few  days,  and 
I  trust  she  will  arrive  there  without  any  further  annoyances  and 
trials. 

General  M ,  formerly  President  of  New  Granada,  dined 

here  last  night.  He  seems  a  highly-informed  person,  who  has 
traveled  much  in  Europe,  and  who  would  be  extremely  agreeable, 
but  from  a  painfully  difficult  articulation,  in  consequence  of  a 
severe  wound  received  in  battle,  in  his  mouth  and  jaw,  which  has 
left  a  terrible  scar.  It  is  said  the  ball  passed  completely  through 
his  mouth,  cutting  his  tongue  in  twain  in  its  passage.  It  was 
impossible  to  avoid  thinking  of  the  self-same  process  (though  by 
the  instrumentality  of  a  different  weapon),  to  which  are  subjected 
magpies,  or  ravens,  or  both,  in  the  Old  World,  to  improve  their 
powers  of  pronunciation — it  certainly  has  the  diametrically  oppo- 
site effect  on  the  human  biped. 

General  M appears  to  be  a  most  public-spirited  man,  and 

to  have  the  good  of  his  fine  country  much  at  heart.  His  atten- 
tion is  greatly  occupied  just-  now  by  the  contemplated  railroad  from 
Chagres  to  this  place,  and  he  is  said  to  be  busily  engaged  in  trans- 
porting slave  laborers  from  one  of  the  States  in  the  interior  of  New 
Granada  to  work  upon  it.  This  is  a  free  State. 


INSECTS  AND  REPTILES.  325 

Insects  and  reptiles  abound  here.  It  is  necessary  to  shake 
one's  gown  well  before  putting  it  on,  in  case  a  scorpion  may  have 

taken  a  fancy  to  the  garment.  Miss  P 's  maid  shook  one  out 

of  hers  the  other  day.  A  few  evenings  ago  Mr.  P had  a 

passage  of  arms  with  a  gallant  knight-errant,  in  the  shape  of  a 
chivalrous  centipede  that  was  boldly  wandering  over  the  wall 
close  to  where  some  of  us  were  sitting.  The  meandering  reptile, 
on  being  attacked  by  a  huge  paper-cutter,  kept  up  for  some  time  a 
persevering  running  fight.  The  assailant  brandished  his  weapon 
of  attack  vigorously  ;  but  when  your  foe  has  so  many  legs  where- 
with to  run  away,  it  is  difficult  to  catch  him  "  any  how  you  fix  it." 
After  sundry  desperate  stabs  at  the  wall,  which  the  centipede 
with  great  celerity  and  dexterity  avoided,  the  poor  reptile  was 
partly  caught,  and  his  tail  docked,  but  the  rest  of  him  ran  off, 
putting  all  his  best  legs  foremost,  and  evaporated.  Nothing  was 
left  as  a  trophy  of  victory  but  the  poor  fellow's  tail,  and  a  select 
few  of  its  many  legs.  I  was  sorry  for  this  denouement,  as  I  can 
not  bear  to  think  of  the  mutilation  and  pain  of  even  a  reptile  ;  a 
prompt  and  speedy  death  is  so  far  preferable  !  However,  I  am  not 
sufficiently  read  in  entomological  history  to  know  whether  centi- 
pedes, as  some  other  reptiles  are  said  to  do,  can  laugh  at  such 
mutilations,  and  grow  together  again ;  if  so,  probably  the  follow- 
ing morning  he  would  return  to  look  for  the  missing  portion  of 
himself,  and  neatly  patch  himself  up  in  no  time. 

A  magnificent  fire-beetle  was  caught  in  the  sola  last  night ; 
the  illumination  it  cast  was  splendid.  It  shone  with  amazing 
brightness  through  a  cambric  handkerchief  that  was  used  as  a 
temporary  prison  for  it :  one  might  almost  have  been  afraid  that 
it  would  commit  arson  unintentionally,  and  burn  its  transparent 
dungeon.  Its  incarceration  did  not  seem  to  diminish  its  glorious 
lustre  at  all.  I  was  afraid  it  would  be  hurt,  but  it  literally  made 

light  of  every  thing.  Miss  P afterward  held  it  to  her  ear, 

and  it  is  impossible  to  express  the  effect  this  beauteous  living  orna- 
ment, this  animated  diamond  produced :  it  would  have  made 
jewels  of  the  first  water  look  dull  and  dim  near  it.  It  cast  a 

splendid  glittering  glow  on  Miss  P 's  beautiful  dark  hair  and 

delicate  cheek — it  was  really  exquisite.  It  afterward  flew  up  to 
the  loftiest  part  of  the  immensely  high  roof,  and  settled  there  :  it 
flung  a  lovely  fairy-like  light  over  the  rafters,  and  seemed  like  a 
star  that  was  shining  through  the  roof. 

We  have  made  acquaintance  here  with  a  very  amiable  and 
accomplished  family,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  in  the  place, 


326  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

that  of  Madame  H .  She  is  a  delightful  person  herself,  and 

her  daughters  appear  highly  educated  and  exceedingly  pleasing. 
One  of  her  sons  is  more  like  an  Englishman  than  a  cavalier  of  the 
Spanish  race,  and  so  perfect  are  his  accent  and  manner  of  speak- 
ing our  language,  that  I  could  with  difficulty  believe  he  was  any 
thingbut  genuine  Anglo-Saxon.  They  are-of  pure  Spanish  descent. 

They  have  in  the  rich  native  families  here  a  charming  custom, 
especially  for  hot  countries.  After  dinner,  all  the  company  rise  and 
adjourn  to  another  apartment,  fresh  and  cool,  where  the  dessert  is 
set  out,  and  the  fruits  are  mingled  with  the  loveliest  flowers.  Of 
course,  all  odor  of  dinner  is  thus  entirely  left  behind.  I  think  it  is 
even  more  refined  and  pleasant  than  the  Havana  custom  I  have 
spoken  of  before. 

We  escape  under  the  consul's  hospitable  roof  one  source  of  great 
annoyance  to  us,  and  that  is,  the  sight  of  numerous  poor  half-starved 
horses  and  mules,  that  we  used  to  see  from  the  hotel,  and  which 
seem  to  make  a  practice  of  promenading  the  streets  for  food. 
They  eagerly  ate  any  morsel  of  old  crust  thrown  out  to  them,  and 
were  evidently  in  a  famishing  state,  trying  with  their  poor  noses 
on  the  ground  to  pick  up  something,  in  vain.  The  fact  is,  I 
believe,  that  some  time  ago,  these  then  deserted  streets  were  cov- 
ered with  grass,  and  it  was  the  universal  custom  to  turn  animals 
loose  to  graze  there,  as  in  a  meadow.  Now  the  busy  trampling 
feet  of  thousands  of  Americans  have  destroyed  that  formerly  abund- 
ant street-pasturage ;  but  the  inhabitants,  mostly  averse  to  in- 
novation, continue  the  practice,  and  the  wretched  creatures  often 
starve  to  death  in  the  streets.  Their  carcasses  are  dragged  down 
to  the  beach  and  there  they  are  left  to  poison  the  air ;  and  the 

horrible  odor  is  often  plainly  perceptible  in  Mr.  P 's  residence, 

so  that  it  is  necessary  occasionally  to  shut  the  windows,  and  almost 
endure  sufibcation  from  heat,  in  order  to  escape  the  sickening 
effluvium. 

The  city  in  some  respects  seems  becoming  Americanized,  but 
not  in  important  particulars,  as  the  foregoing  statements  will  suf- 
ficiently prove.  But  when  you  take  a  little  promenade  in  the 
roughly-paved  plazas  or  streets  (walk  you  must,  for  there  are  no 
carriages),  you  will  hear  "  Oh,  Susanna,"  on  your  right  side, 
"  Uncle  Ned,"  on  your  left,  "  Hail  Columbia,"  from  the  balcony 
over  head,  and  the  "  Arkansas  Hunters,"  from  the  shop  at  your 
side.  I  make  no  doubt,  from  what  I  hear,  that  shandy-gaff,  and 
hail-storms,  and  mint-julep,  are  constantly  kept  in  readiness  for  any 
that  require  them. 


SCARCITY  OF  CARRIAGES.  327 

But  imagine  what  a  change  it  must  seem  to  us,  not  to  see  a 
carriage  of  any  description  ever  in  the  streets  of  Panama,  having 
so  lately  left  the  Havana,  which  certainly,  if  any  place  can  be  so, 
is  almost  too  full  of  rolling  equipages — in  short,  from  the  most  over- 
carriaged  town  in  the  world,  we  came  straight  to  the  most  under- 
carriaged  one.  I  asked  some  one  the  other  day,  whether  there  was 
not  even  a  one-mule  chaise  in  Panama.  "  No,"  was  the  reply  ; 

"  but  Senior has  a  cart" — evidently  that  was  thought  to  be  a 

great  march  of  improvement.  A  single  cart  (for  it  is  the  only  one) 
in  the  chief  town  of  a  country,  where  soon  a  railroad  is  expected 
to  be  laid  down  ! — it  will  be  a  jump,  indeed  ! 


CHAPTER    XLII. 

Monarchy  and  Democracy — England's  Treatment  of  her  Colonies — The 
Greatness  of  America — Her  Tendency  to  Propagandism — Anecdote  of  a 
Paroquet — The  Pearl  Fishery  at  Panama — The  Captain  and  his  Crew — 
General  Rosas — Beautifully  scented  Woods  in  Panama — The  Rose  Fever — 
Theatricals  in  Panama — Hostility  between  Americans  and  the  Natives  of 
Panama — Fair  Children  in  Panama — The  would-be  Englishwoman. 

NEW  GRANADA,  from  accounts  I  have  heard,  would  not  object 
much  to  giving  up  the  Isthmus  to  the  United  States,  but  France 
and  England,  from  various  reasons,  no  doubt  would!  Education, 
and  many  other  advantages,  doubtless,  would  accrue  to  the  people 
under  the  enlightened  rule  of  the  Americans  ;  but,  after  all,  it 
seems  a  republican  government  is  not  suited  to  these  South  Ameri- 
can nations :  it  becomes  a  tyranny  or  a  nullity  with  them.  The 
genius,  character,  and  habits  of  the  people  tend  toward  monarchi- 
cal institutions  in  general.  Old  Spain  has  left  her  mark  upon 
them ;  she  trained  all  her  colonies  in  her  own  spirit ;  she  deeply 
imbued  them  with  her  own  principles  :  this  has  grown  with  their 
growth,  and  strengthened  with  their  strength ;  and  though,  when 
they  threw  off  her  yoke,  and  asserted  their  national  independence, 
the  example  of  the  most  flourishing  and  powerful  nation  in  this 
hemisphere  was,  as  it  were,  instinctively  followed  (as  if  the  mere 
resemblance  in  the  form  of  government,  without  any  similarity  in 
character,  traditions,  or  habits  of  thought,  could  effect  equal  re- 
sults), yet  the  people,  it  would  appear,  have  generally  retained  the 
impressions  that  the  mother  country  sought  always  consistently  to 
give  them. 


328  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

In  vain  the  letter  is  altered ;  the  spirit  is  still  there.  A  mon- 
archy herself,  she  educated  and  trained  her  colonies  in  monarchical 
principles,  as  did  Portugal  also ;  and  the  consequence  is,  that  though 
by  the  overwhelming  influence  of  the  example  of  the  mightiest 
people  of  the  New  World  they  mostly  are  republics  in  name,  it  is 
in  name  only.  Look  at  Mexico  ;  look  at  her  eminently  aristocrati- 
cal  church  and  army ;  see  how  in  society  counts  and  marquises 
retain  their  titles  to  this  very  day,  and  how  in  a  thousand  other 
things  the  real  tendencies  of  the  people  break  forth.  How  differ- 
ently does  England  treat  her  colonies — with  what  care,  apparently, 
does  she  lead  them,  and  teach  them,  and  tutor  them  to  be  repub- 
lics in  time.  -Monarchy  is  a  sort  of  distant  vision — a  myth  to 
them  :  they  are  seldom  reminded  of  it ;  it  is  a  shadow  and  a  name, 
and  democracy  seems  the  substance.  Monarchy  is  a  rare  and 
holiday  visitor ;  democracy  is  their  every-day  comrade  and  friend  : 
it  comes  home  to  every  man's  bosom  and  business  there ;  it  is  with 
him  in  the  market-place,  with  him  in  the  street,  it  is  part  of  his 
every-day  life,  it  is  with  him  in  all  his  social  intercourse ;  and  if 
in  the  settlers  from  the  old  country,  habits  previously  acquired  and 
sentiments  originally  instilled  into  them  should  retain  some  dominion 
over  them,  fainter  and  fainter  indeed,  but  still  not  wholly  eradicated 
— in  the  next  generation,  when  no  such  antecedents  have  left  a 
shadow  behind,  it  is  entirely  annihilated. 

It  may  be  objected  that,  notwithstanding  Spain  through  all  her 
widely  extended  colonies  consistently  and  perse veringly  carried  out 
the  fundamental  principles  of  her  laws,  and  unvaryingly  caused 
them  to  participate  freely  and  fully  in  all  the  spirit  and  forms  of 
her  own  institutions,  yet  these  colonies  were  not  deterred  from 
separating  themselves  from  the  mother-country.  That  they  did  so 
— true  ;  but  the  circumstances  under  which  they  asserted  and  won 
their  independence  had  nothing  to  do  with  their  being  monarchical, 
or  democratical  in  their  internal  policy.  Other  and  more  cogent 
reasons  determined  them  on  their  course  ;  and  although  the  metro- 
politan country  acted  wisely  with  regard  to  her  dependencies  in 
particular  instances,  in  a  number  of  important  matters  she  com- 
mitted the  most  flagrant  errors.  Heaven  knows  we  manage  our 
colonies  ill  enough  in  most  matters,  and  we  have  ingeniously  super- 
added  to  our  shortcomings  and  weaknesses  the  great  fault  of  doing 
all  in  our  power  to  make  them  not  only  quite  indifferent  to  us  now, 
but  utterly  different  from  ourselves  in  government  and  political 
organization,  whenever  in  the  fullness  of  time  (and  that  time  is 
probably  not  far  distant,  and  will,  we  must  undoubtedly  feel,  as- 


ENGLAND  AND  HER  COLONIES.      ,  329 

Buredly  come)  they  sever  themselves  from  us,  as  the  dependencies 
of  Spain  did  from  her,  and  establish  themselves  as  independent 
nations,  for  it  will  be  doubtless  as — republics. 

Then,  instead  of  having  the  great  tie  of  a  close  resemblance  in 
all  political  institutions,  and  that  wide  sympathy  which  must 
spring  from  an  identity  of  all  the  forms  of  constitutional  adminis- 
tration and  of  organization,  we  must  take  leave  of  them,  and  lose 
them  indeed !  for  they  will  naturally  and  spontaneously  cling  to 
those  governments  which  have  the  greatest  similarity  to  their  own, 
and  feel  that  the  same  act  which  has  disjoined  them  from  a  state 
cf  government  so  little  analagous  to  their  own  selected  one,  has,  as 
it  were,  connected  them  with  those  that  are  formed  on  the  same 
model  and  established  on  the  same  foundations. 

It  is  a  great  compliment  to  our  mighty  transatlantic  brethren, 
without  doubt,  that  we  should  be  moulding  and  forming  all  our 
colonies  to  tread  in  their  footsteps  and  follow  their  example ;  but 
it  is  a  very  bad  compliment  to  our  own  institutions ;  and  in  the 
course  of  time  will  tend,  if  persevered  in,  I  am  persuaded,  very 
greatly  to  endanger  them.  Two  great  principles  will  divide  the 
world  one  day  or  the  other  :  democracy  and  monarchy,  and  one  or 
the  other  will  ultimately  have  the  ascendency ;  and  as  we  should 
not  think  it  wise  or  prudent  of  our  republican  brethren  to  sow 
every  where,  from  the  largest  to  the  smallest  of  their  states  perhaps, 
the  seeds  of  absolutism,  or  of  sovereignty,  so  neither  can  it  be  dis- 
creet in  us  to  sow  broadcast  over  our  own  vast  transmarine  terri- 
torial possessions,  the  seeds  of  republicanism  and  democracy.  "  Qui 
se  ressamble  s'assemble  ;"  and  we  are  actually  training -and  disci- 
plining troops  for  the  future  political  warfare  of  the  world,  that 
must  and  will  necessarily  range  themselves  in  hostility  against 
our  professed  and  declared  principles  and  sentiments. 

It  may  be  that  our  statesmen  care  not  for  the  future — apres 
moi  le  deluge :  it  may  be  that  they  have  a  secret  leaning  toward 
the  wholly  popular  forms  of  government  themselves ;  but  on  this 
I  have  nothing  to  say,  neither  am  I  arguing  in  the  lea&f  as  to  the 
relative  perfections  of  this  or  that  form  of  government.  I  only 
say,  if  we  think  our  own  constitution  and  institutions  are  good — 
are  the  best  (and  if\ve  do  not  think  so,  certainly  no  time  ought  to 
be  lost  in  changing  them,  as  far  as  reason  and  prudence  will  per- 
mit), then  we  ought  to  do  our  duty,  and  consistently  act,  so  as  to 
extend  this  system,  and  these  advantages,  to  those  over  whom  we 
have  so  much  influence  for  evil  or  for  good. 

Surely  no  one  can  doubt  for  a  moment  what  Australia  would 


330  .TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

*^ 
become,  if  she  established  her  independence  now  ;  and  every  year 

that  passes  over  our  heads  adds  more  to  the  strength  and  vigor  of 
her  popular  principles.  As  year  after  year  sees  the  older  settlers 
more  alienated,  by  the  state  of  things  around  them,  from  the  once- 
venerated  traditions  of  their  fathers  and  the  character  of  their 
ancient  relations,  associations,  and  prepossessions ;  and  as  the  ac- 
cumulation of  democratic  elements  naturally  and  necessarily  (with- 
out any  antagonizing,  or  at  least  counteracting  influences)  continues 
to  increase,  as  hosts  of  humble  emigrants,  and  few  but  humble 
emigrants,  pour  down  upon  the  shores  of  that  grand  and  promising 
colony — how  can  it  be  otherwise  ]  Representatives  of  all  our  dif- 
ferent classes  and  orders  should  be  encouraged  to  go  there,  by  all 
legitimate  means ;  another  spirit  would  be  quickly  infused  ;  and 
instead  of  a  gradual,  but  certain  alienation  from  the  forms,  charac- 
ter, and  tone  of  our  institutions,  the  reverse  would  be  the  case,  and 
the  manners  and  all  the  usages  of  the  society  of  the  older  world 
would  be  insensibly  introduced,  adopted,  and  preferred  ;  and  if  we 
aided  the  development  of  those  inclinations  by  a  strict  adaptation, 
to  the  colony  of  all  the  various  agencies  and  accompaniments  of  a 
form  of  government  like  ours — those  co-operating  circumstances 
that  have  proved  so  instrumental  in  our  own  country  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  monarchy,  and  in  securing  that  monarchy's  perma- 
nency and  consolidation — there  is  no  more  reason  that,  in  the  event 
of  Australia  becoming  independent  of  England,  she  should  frame  a 
republican  constitution,  than  that  Belgium  should  have  done  so 
when  separated  from  Holland. 

We  should  have  a  peerage  in  all  our  colonies,  whosQ  honors 
should  be  distributed  with  perfect  impartiality  and  justice — orders 
of  knighthood,  rewards,  distinctions,  and  every  thing  else  that  the 
mother  country  herself  has ;  and  it  would  soon  be  found  not  only 
that  the  aristocratic  element  would  be  largely  infused  into  the 
plebeian,  but  also  that  a  spirit  beyond  that  of  mere  money-making 
would  be  more  generally  and  preponderatingly  introduced. 

It  may  be  said,  and  very  truly,  that  the  people  of  the  United 
States  are  as  enlightened,  chivalrous,  and  noble  a  people  as  can 
exist,  notwithstanding  that  the  love  of  money-making  certainly 
largely  enters  into  their  composition.  Granted,  and  more  than 
granted  ;  for  I  have  a  most  sincere  admiration  for  the  true  nobility 
of  nature  of  the  Americans  in  general ;  but  their  past  position  was 
widely  different  from  that  of  our  colonists  at  present.  The  history 
and  cherished  traditions  of  their  race,  the  examples  of  all  the 
mighty  countries  of  the  world,  at  tliat  time,  tended  to  inspire  them 


AMERICAN  PROPAGANDISTS.  331 

with  a  deep  respect  for  monarchical  constitutions,  and  the  time- 
honored  customs  and  ordinations  belonging  thereto ;  and  though 
their  own  form  of  government,  chiefly  through  the  decision  and 
habits  of  thought  of  some  of  their  principal  men,  and  the  local 
tendency  to  republicanism  that  we  had  encouraged  and  established 
among  them,  became  after  the  separation  a  commonwealth  ;  yet 
they  instinctively  turned  for  models  of  greatness  and  perfection, 
glory  and  grandeur  and  success  to  the  Old  World  absolutisms,  or 
constitutional  sovereignties,  and  thus  combined  much  chivalrous 
sentiment  and  hero-magnanimity  with  other  tendencies  and  char- 
acteristics. 

But  it  is  a  far  other  case  with  the  inhabitants  of  our  present 
important  and  noble  dependencies ;  they  have  shining  chiefly  before 
their  eyes  the  material  prosperity,  and  fast  increasing  power,  and 
stupendous  greatness  of  their  elder,  but  liberated  brother.  All  that 
can  attract,  dazzle,  fascinate,  and  inspire  with  the  deepest  admira- 
tion, is  to  be  found  in  that  magnificent  and  giant  nation ;  and  to 
follow  in  their  footsteps  well  may  be  the  ambition  of  every  young 
and  independent  state.  But  still  Mammon  there  is  too  much  wor- 
shiped, and  in  that  will  their  example  probably  be  most  faithfully 
followed. 

Do  we,  or  do  we  not,  wish  to  counteract  the  democratic  tenden- 
cies of  our  colonies  ?  If  we  do,  no  further  time  is  to  be  wasted ; 
and  if  we  do  not,  we  are  certainly  doing  all  we  by  possibility  can, 
short  of  giving  those  colonies  the  name  as  well  as  the  nature  of 
republics,  to  promote  the  rapid  establishment  of  such  a  system  of 
government  in  all  of  them.  Surely  according  to  the  basis  of  our 
own  constitution — so  should  the  superstructure  be  throughout. 

Forgive,  reader,  this  digression.  Many  things  I  hear,  many 
circumstances  that  have  transpired  under  my  own  eyes,  have  led 
me  to  think  much  on  these  subjects ;  subjects  that  may  seem  of 
little  consequence  in  the  present  moment,  but  which  will  prove  of 
such  enormous  importance  in  the  future.  The  Americans  are  the 
greatest  political  propagandists  imaginable,  and  believing  their 
own  singularly  successful  and  admirably  administered  form  of  gov- 
ernment to  be  the  most  perfect  in  the  world,  who  can  censure  them 
for  being  so]  .They  are  too  clear-sighted,  and  too  desirous  that 
their  own  democracy  should  ultimately  overshadow  and  control  all 
the  nations  of  the  earth,  not  to  rejoice  at  the  way  in  which  we  are 
playing  into  their  hands. 

But  let  me  now  tell,  by  way  of  a  little  variety,  a  curious  cir- 


332  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

cumstance  relating  to  natural  history  that  has  lately  occurred, 
think  I  have  mentioned  a  little  cross-grained  paroquet  that  V- 


took  under  her  especial  protection  soon  after  we  arrived  here.  Not 
being  fascinated  by  its  manners,  and  having  an  objection  to  being 
sharply  bitten  whenever  I  approached  too  near  the  little  wretch,  I 
declined  as  far  as  possible  the  honor  of  his  acquaintance,  and  never 
took  the  slightest  notice  of  him,  nor  he  of  me,  for  he  found  I  would 
not  submit  to  his  biting  attacks  generally,  and  therefore  he  turned 
his  attention  to  others,  who  were  either  more  afraid  of  him,  or  who 

by  such  devotion  as  V 's  won  him  over  by  constantly  offering 

him  "  dulces-"  and  fruit. 

One  afternoon  I  was  very  busily  employed  in  writing  or  reading, 
and  it  happened  I  was  quite  absorbed  and  wrapped  up  in  my  oc- 
cupation, and  hardly  knew  that  my  little  cross-patch  of  a  paroquet 
had  been  left  to  amuse  himself  on  the  balcony,  as  was  sometimes 
the  case.  Presently  he  began  making  a  tremendous  and  piercing 
noise,  screaming  far  louder  than  I  had  ever  heard  him  do.  I  took 
no  notice  at  first,  but  the  sound  increased,  and  I  thought  was  per- 
tinaciously addressed  to  me — I  can  not  describe  what  a  deafening 
din  the  little  animal  contrived  to  make,  evidently  to  attract  my 
attention.  At  last  I  looked  up,  and  beheld  it  to  my  surprise  post- 
ing directly  toward  me,  as  fast  as  it  could  waddle,  for  its  gait  was 
something  like  that  of  the  Turkish  or  Tunis  women,  in  their 
tumble-off  slippers.  It  had  to  cross  a  great  part  of  the  immense 
drawing-room  to  get  to  me ;  but  with  its  eyes  fixed  on  me  in  the 
most  supplicating  manner,  and  almost  starting  out  of  its  little 
poked-forward  head,  it  hurried  on,  making  right  for  the  place  where 
I  was  sitting.  Surprised  at  its  unusual  conduct,  and  compassion- 
ating the  poor  little  creature's  evident  perturbation  and  uneasiness 
— though  in  what  originating  I  knew  not — I  put  down  my  hand 
for  the  bird  to  mount  on  the  finger,  as  it  commonly  did  ;  it  lost 
not  a  quarter  of  a  second  in  so  doing,  fluttering  with  anxiety,  and 
half-dead  with  terror.  The  moment  I  took  it  up,  it  hid  itself,  as 
well  as  it  could,  in  the  folds  of  a  shawl  I  had  on. 

I  felt  there  must  be  some  enemy  at  hand,  but  what,  and  where  ? 
I  glanced  round  the  room.  In  a  corner  near  the  balcony,  which 
was  comparatively  dark,  I  perceived  a  cat,  who  was  all  ready  for 
the  fatal  spring,  but  had  possibly  been  arrested  by  trie  same  instinct 
that  had  taught  the  sensible  little  bird  to  hurry  and  clamor  so 
loudly  to  me  for  protection.  Puss  was  so  grievously  disappointed 
at  the  loss  of  her  anticipated  repast,  that  she  actually  seemed 
almost  inclined  to  dispute  with  me  the  poor  little  trembling  paro- 


PANAMA  PEARL-FISHERY.  333 

quet,  who  was,  as  nearly  as  a  bird  could  be,  in  hysterics  of  fear. 
He  shook  with  terror,  and  seemed  as  if  he  would  fall  into  a  fit. 

I  drove  the  cat  away ;  and  after  a  great  deal  of  soothing  and 
encouraging,  the  poor  little  paroquet  was  restored  to  composure, 
and  after  a  long  time,  showed  his  convalescence  and  his  gratitude 
by  hints  that  he  began  to  feel  himself  in  biting  trim  again.  How- 
ever, I  think  since  this  affair  he  has  not  bit  me,  when  I  have  ven- 
tured to  approach,  quite  so  savagely  or  so  often  as  before. 

To  turn  from  this  little  ex-demon,  to  a  totally  different  subject. 
I  was  reading  in  my  room  the  other  day,  when  I  was  called  to  see 
a  pretty  sight.  On  hurrying  out  of  our  suite  of  rooms,  what  should 
I  see  but  a  little  winged  angel  on  the  stairs !  This  was  a  child 

of  Senora ,  who  was  dressed  to  perform  her  part  in  a  religious 

procession  that  was  going  to  take  place.  The  little  creature  looked 
lovely,  covered  with  resplendent  diamonds  and  pearls,  and  furnished 
with  bright  little  silvery  wings  ;  but  it  had  a  sad  expression  of 
countenance,  the  effect  of  which  was  very  touching.  A  sort  of 
star,  of  magnificent  jewels,  was  gleaming  on  its  bosom,  and  it 
seemed  almost  oppressed  by  the  weight  of  gems  it  had  to  carry. 

This  angel  visitant  was  accompanied  by  a  nurse,  who  appeared 
very  proud  of  the  little  glittering  thing,  and  of  the  profusion  of 
costly  jewels  with  which  it  was  so  superbly  adorned.  The  pearls 
were  wonderfully  splendid ;  but  this  is  a  native  land — or  rather 
native  water— of  pearls,  for  there  is  a  regular  pearl-fishery  estab- 
lished here. 

These  treasures  of  the  deep  are  abundantly  found  around  the 
adjoining  islands,  and  prove  a  profitable  source  of  employment  to  a 
considerable  body  of  men,  who  follow  the  laborious  occupation  of 
divers.  It  is  said,  that  Messrs.  Rundell  and  Bridge,  some  time 
ago,  paid  down  a  sum  of  money  for  the  right  to  monopolize  the 
trade,  and  they  sent  out  from  England  a  diving-bell,  which  it  was 
anticipated  would  materially  tend  to  increase  the  supply  of  pearls 
from  these  oyster-beds ;  but  the  attempt  was  a  vain  one,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  rocky  nature  of  the  bottom  of  the  bay,  together  with 
the  very  heavy  ground-swell,  which  is  so  frequent  here.  The  trade 
was,  therefore,  again  transferred  to  the  natives,  who  sell  all  they 
find  to  the  resident  merchants,  for  the  jewel-cases  of  the  fair  Pana- 
manians, as  it  is  said  not  many  are  exported  to  the  Old  World. 

The  cook  here  (who,  by  the  way,  is  an  excellent  one)  sent  up  to 
me,  the  other  day,  a  number  of  lovely  pearls,  which  he  had  pur- 
chased, I  believe,  from  the  divers  on  speculation.  They  looked 
tempting  enough,  as  they  rolled  one  by  one  out  of  the  long  tubular 


334  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

case  in  which  they  were  deposited,  shining  with  extraordinary 
lustre — so  fresh  from  the  great  Pacific  that  all  the  snowy  whiteness 
of  its  eternal  surf  seemed  sparkling  on  them ! 

But  I  would  not  purchase  any ;  for,  while  traveling  and 
voyaging  about,  it  is  far  preferable  to  have  nothing  that  is  valua- 
ble, as  far  as  it  can  be  avoided.  I  had  left  every  thing  I  brought 
with  me  of  any  value  in  the  British  Consulate  at  the  Havana, 
Mr.  Kennedy  having  given  me  permission  so  to  do. 

A  day  or  two  ago,  I  had  a  surprise,  which  was  occasioned  by  a 
very  different  being  from  the  pretty  winged  angel,  mailed  in 
jewels,  and  with  a  little  halo  of  splendor  around  it.  I  was  return- 
ing in  the  afternoon  from  the  drawing-room  to  my  own  apartment, 
to  arrive  at  which  I  had  to  traverse  several  rooms ;  the  first  a 
sort  of  sitting-room,  which  opened  on  one  side  to  a  chamber 
generally  appropriated  by  Madame  Jenny  (the  French  femme  de 

chambrc  of  Miss  P )  for  the  safe-keeping  of  various  stores  ;  and 

on  the  other  side  there  was  a  door,  which  conducted  to  the  room 
which  H.  and  W.  inhabited,  who  were  then  both  out.  When  I 
reached  the  large  gate-like  doors  which  led  to  the  outer  apartment, 
I  was  much  astonished  to  see  them  shut,  and  still  more  to  see 
them  opened  suddenly,  and  a  man  in  a  sailor-like  garb  rush  out  in 
a  horrible  condition ! 

He  had  evidently  been  subjected  to  shocking  bad  treatment ;  his 
head  and  face  seemed  a  mass  of  bruises  and  wounds,  and  he  ap- 
peared considerably  agitated,  not  to  say  alarmed.  He  informed 
me,  in  a  hurried  manner,  that  he  was  the  captain  of  a  merchant- 
vessel,  then  at  Panama,  and  had  had  a  mutiny  among  his  men ; 
had  escaped  with  difficulty,  was  pursued  by  them,  and  dreadfully 
ill-treated  ;  he  had  rushed  into  the  Consulate  for  refuge  and  safety, 
and  was  watched  by  the  disaffected  crew,  who  had  stationed 
themselves  at  the  gates  of  the  Consulate,  not  daring  to  penetrate 
further,  but  intending  to  attack  him,  if  he  ventured  to  quit  its 
sheltering  roof. 

Mr.  P was  out  at  the  time,  but  was  momentarily  expected 

home.  A  chair  was  brought  by  Madame  Jenny,  and  placed  near 
the  office-door,  where  the  poor  man  waited  till  the  Consul  arrived, 

to  tell  his  piteous  tale.  Mr.  P told  me  afterward  that  such 

cases  are  of  very  common  occurrence  here  now.  The  crews,  in 
general,  it  appears,  are  all  anxious  to  get  to  California  (and  when 
there,  to  go  to  the  mines) ;  besides,  they  have  constant  opportuni- 
ties of  getting  higher  wages,  and  are  continually  in  a  state  of 
discontent. 


PARTY  COLORS  OF  GENERAL  ROSAS.  335 

We  have  no  Consul,  I  find,  at  San  Francisco,  which  seems  very 
strange,  when  it  is  considered  how  many  English  merchant-ships 
there  are  now  at  that  port,  and  what  an  important  place  it  has 
become. 

There  is  a  family  of  distinction  here,  from  Buenos  Ayres,  and 
as  it  seems  General  Rosas  makes  all  his  followers,  male  and 
female,  wear  his  colors,  red  and  all  red :  in  whatever  part  of  the 
world  they  may  be,  they  are  forced,  on  the  most  broiling  day,  to 
go  about  like  land-lubberized  and  boiled  lobsters.  The  great 
Dictator,  it  is  asserted,  has  spies  in  multitudes  in  all  parts,  and  no 
one  dare  infringe  his  rules,  as  they  would  certainly  be  detected. 
Thus  these  Buenos-Ayrean  travelers  are  condemned  to  this  per- 
petual blush  of  "  celestial  rosy  red"  from  morning  till  night,  and, 
for  aught  I  know  to  the  contrary,  from  night  till  morning  also,  in 
the  shape  of  vermilion  night-robes. 

I  believe  they  do  not  very  often  leave  their  habitation,  but 
whenever  they  do — no  matter  how  sultry  or  sunshiny  the  day,  so 
near  the  equator — they  are  necessitated  to  make  their  appearance 
like  locomotive  bonfires,  or  beef-eaters  of  private  life,  or  demons 
(amiable  social  ones,  however),  such  as  strutted  formerly  in  the 
hideous  auto-da-fe  processions,  painted  all  over  with  crimson 
flames — or  perambulating  poppies,  or  peripatetic  scarlet-beans,  or 
as  if  they  were  burning  themselves  in  effigy  (for  red  in  this  blazing 
sunshine  seems  to  roast  one)  ;  in  short,  they  were,  as  a  French 
friend  of  mine  once  designated  a  married  lady  and  gentleman  of 
my  acquaintance,  who  were  remarkable  for  rubicund  complexions, 
a  regular  menage  carotte.  It  would  be  awkward  for  them  to 
meet  a  vaquero  driving  a  herd  of  bulls  accidentally,  for  the  fury 
aroused  in  these  animals  by  the  sight  of  scarlet  is  well  known. 

General  Rosas  is  said  to  be  extremely  civil  and  obliging  just 
now  to  the  English.  We  have  had  a  tremendous  thunder-storm 
here  ;  it  was  necessary  to  close  all  the  windows,  and  the  crashing 
of  the  thunder  was  terrific.  The  rain  came  down  like  a  temporary 
deluge,  but  the  air  seemed  very  sweet  and  fresh  after  it,  though  I 
do  not  think  it  was  made  much  cooler. 

Almost  every  evening  we  hear  fandangoes  going  on,  al  fresco 
among  the  natives,  and  mulattoes  and  negroes,  who  seem  passion- 
ately fond  votaries  of  Terpsichore.  The  sound  of  their  guitars, 
drums  and  flageolets,  with  the  accompaniment,  1  believe,  of  some 
hollow  gourds,  in  which  they  rattle  a  number  of  pebbles,  is  pleasant 
enough  at  a  distance,  mingling  with  the  chiming,  solemn  roll  of 
the  ocean. 


336  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

Madame  H came  to  a  little  soiree  here  the  other  night. 

She  was  sitting  by  me  on  the  sofa,  and  as  we  were  conversing 
together,  I  was  charmed  by  a  perfume  on  her  handkerchief,  the 
most  exquisite  it  is  possible  to  imagine.  I  could  not  resist  asking 
her  the  name  of  it,  and  if  it  was  a  Panamanian  perfume.  She 
told  me  it  was  the  scrapings  of  a  highly-scented  wood  that  grows  in 
the  forests  of  the  .Isthmus.  These  little  shavings  of  wood,  the 
odor  of  which  I  think  is  incomparably  delicious,  are  laid  among 
the  handkerchiefs,  and  give  them  an  intense  fragrance. 

Madame  H was  kind  enough  to  say  she  would  send  me 

some  of  these  scrapings,  as  I  admired  the  scent  so  much,  and 
accordingly  a  little  packet  arrived  the  following  day,  but  of  anoth- 
er kind  of  wood,  Madame  H rinding  her  stock  of  the  first  was 

exhausted.  This  is  very  sweet,  but  does  not  at  all  equal  the  wood 
that  had  previously  so  much  charmed  me. 

A  French  lady  at  the  Havana,  the  wife  of  a  medical  gentleman 
from  Paris,  begged  me,  when  I  came  here,  to  ascertain  whether 
there  was  any  opening  for  a  French  physician  here,  they  having 
been  ruined  by  the  French  revolution  (not  because  it  improved 
the  general  health,  though).  I  consequently  made  inquiries,  and 
found  there  were  at  least  two  established  here,  who  are  much 
liked.  There  are  American  doctors  here  too,  and  an  English 
one  also.  The  latter  has  attended  me ;  he  is  a  clever  person, 
most  highly  recommended,  and  has  almost  cured  my  hay-asthma. 
By  the  way,  this  complaint  is  known  in  the  United  States,  and 
is  called  there,  rose-fever. 

I  am  strongly  recommended,  instead  of  returning  at  once  across 
the  Isthmus,  to  proceed  to  Lima  in  one  of  the  English  steamers, 
that  regularly  run  from  hence  to  Callao  and  Valparaiso  every 
month.  The  sea  voyage  would  do  me  a  great  deal  of  good,  and 
drive  away,  probably,  all  remains  of  the  indisposition  ;  and  I  think 
Lima  would,  independently  of  that,  be  well  worth  a  visit,  now 
that  we  are,  comparatively  speaking,  so  near  it.  I  have  almost 
recovered  from  the  attack,  but  I  dare  not  venture  out  at 
present. 

Miss  P went  last  evening  to  the  theatre  with  Madame 

H .  I  believe  it  is  an  enormous  building,  quite  unfinished, 

and  not  originally  designed  for  the  purpose  it  now  serves,  it  is 
without  any  roof  whatever,  so  the  spectators  sit  there  a  la  belle 
ktoile,  happy  indeed  if  the  stars  do  shine,  and  no  storm  of  rain, 
such  as  we  lately  had,  comes  down  to  wash  them  out  of  their 
seats.  The  performances  are  said  to  be  very  fair.  "  No  toca  a 


HOSTILITIES  BETWEEN  AMERICANS  AND  NATIVES.    337 

la  reina,"  from  the  French  play,  "  Ne  touchez  pas  a  la  reine," 
was  given  the  other  night,  and,  I  hear,  very  nicely  acted. 

The  Americans,  many  of  whom  do  not  understand  Spanish,  got 
up  some  opposition  theatricals  a  day  or  two  ago  in  one  of  the 
hotels,  the  sula  of  which  was  fitted  up  as  a  theatre ;  but  this 
failed,  the  company  not  meeting  altogether  with  the  approbation 
of  the  audience — at  least  so  it  was  rumored.  It  happened  that 
the  evening  was  oppressively  hot,  and  I  think  the  actors  must 
have  found  it  hard  work  to  please  a  large  number  of  people, 
crowded  together  in-doors,  in  a  comparatively  small  room.  la 
such  an  atmosphere  as  must  have  prevailed  there,  they  could  not 
have  attempted  much  exertion  themselves  assuredly,  unless  they 
had  been  salamanders,  and  applause  too,  so  necessary  to  stimulate 
actors,  must  have  been  wanting.  Certainly  the  cooler  roofless 
theatre  must,  under  these  circumstances,  bear  away  the  palm  and 
win  the  palms,  from  the  very  fact  of  its  being  so. 

A  sort  of  riot  took  place  here  a  little  while  ago,  I  believe  in 
consequence  of  some  suspected  robbery.  One  man  supposed, 
among  others,  to  be  implicated,  was  chased  a  good  distance  by  the 

aggrieved  parties.  Mr.  P ,  returning  from  a  ride  he  had 

taken  into  the  country,  met  this  hunted  man  running  near  the 

entrance  to  the  town,  and  he  rather  coolly  asked  Mr.  P to  lend 

him  his  horse,  which  proposition  was  respectfully  declined. 

It  is  said  there  is  a  great  deal^of  ill-feeling  between  the  Ameri- 
cans and  the  Panamanians  :  the  former  accuse  the  latter  of  thiev- 
ing and  cheating,  and  the  natives  indignantly  retort.  One  reason, 
I  believe,  why  the  Americans  do  not  agree  so  well  with  the  natives 
as  the  English,  is  that  they  are  accustomed  to  look  upon  all  color- 
ed people  with  great  contempt.  They  call  all  the  Indians  and 
half  Indians  by  the  general  name  of  Niggers,  and  treat  them  as 
such  ;  and  that  offends  these  people  much,  who,  though  good-tem- 
pered and  gentle,  are  very  high-spirited. 

Whatever  pilfering  goes  on  is  laid  to  the  natives  by  the  Cali- 
fornian  emigrants  ;  and  the  natives  say,  "  No,  it  is  all  among 
yourselves."  Then  revolvers  and  knives  are  very  apt  to  make 
their  appearance  ;  and  as  these  articles  are  not  exactly  philosoph- 
'ical  pacificators,  the  fray  is  often  begun  in  right  earnest,  and 
sometimes  ends  in  bloodshed. 

We  have  tolerably  fine  weather  here  now,  with  only  an  occa- 
sional deluge  ;  but  we  hear  that  in  the  interior  of  the  country 
the  rainy  season  has  rather  earlier  than  usual  almost  regu- 
larly commenced.  A  young  lady  who  has  lately  arrived  at  Pana- 

P 


338  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

ma  from  England  to  take  the  place  of  governess  in  the  family 

of  Mr.  L ,  the  Vice-Consul  here,  said  that. three  times  under 

the  most  violently  pouring  rain  her  clothes  had  heen  thoroughly 
saturated  with  water  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours,  and  as  often  en- 
tirely dried  again  by  the  intensely  powerful  rays  of  the  burning 
sun. 

Her  little  pupils  are  half  South  American  and  half  English,  as 

Mr.  L married  a  lady  of  New  Granada.     I  saw  a  pretty 

little  boy  of  his  the  other  evening  ;  he  brought  a  message  from  his 
father  to  the  Consul.  I  spoke  to  him  in  English. 

"  No  hablo  Ingles,"  said  the  little  fellow,  with  a  half-apologetic 
shrug  of  his  pretty  shoulder. 

He  looked  like  a  little  Anglo-Saxon,  however,  being  exceedingly 
fair,  with  a  delicate  blonde  head.  One  of  Madame  Hurtado's 
children  is  also  very  fair  indeed,  which  is  singular  for  a  Spanish 
South  American  ;  but  every  now  and  then  such  rare  instances  are 
seen,  and  generally  are  much  admired  ;  as,  for  example,  the  famous 
Mexican  beauty  of  former  days,  "  La  Giiera"  par  excellence,  the 
admired  of  Humboldt — La  Giiera  Rodriguez,  who  bewitched  even 
that  paragon  of  philosophers.  Would  that  her  influence,  or  any 
other  influence,  could  have  persuaded  him  to  simplify  their  difficult 
language  of  technicalities  and  names,  and  condescend  to  a  little 
unscientificalization  of  their  terms  !  not  that  the  truly  great  Hum- 
boldt, however,  sins  particularly  in  that  respect.  What  a  chatter- 
ing there  is  in  the  outer  room,  as  if  an  improvised  tertulia  were 
taking  place  ;  let  us  look  in  and  see  what  is  the  matter. 

An  amusing  scene  !  A  quantity  of  things  are  just  brought  in. 
by  the  washerwomen,  and  two  or  three  other  native  women  have 
lately  come  in  on  divers  errands.  A  few  of  them  are  most  grace- 
fully reclined  on  the  floor,  being  fatigued  by  their  walk  under  the 
burning  suri.  It  is  the  height  of  picturesqueness,  their  coal-black 
hair  streaming  around  them,  and  their  attitudes  most  sculpture-like. 
They  are  all  talking  together,  with  that  slightly  metallic-sounding 
voice  which  seems  one  of  their  characteristics.  The  principal 
washerwoman  claims  me  as  a  countrywoman,  and  with  a  patron- 
izing inclination  of  her  woolly  head — she  is  black  as  the  blackest 
raven — informs  me  graciously  she  is  an  Englishwoman  : 

"  I  Ingles,  tambien  ;  I  'long  to  England  ;  si." 

England  !  Did  she  come  out  of  the  Durham  coal-mines,  and 
had  she  never  used  soap  and  water  since  ?  She  quickly  solved 
the  mystery,  by  saying  she  was  born  in  Jamaica. 


•    CHAPTER  XLIII. 

Intention  to  go  to  Lima — Dinner  to  Ex-cannibals — Theatricals  in  Panama 
— Taboga — The  French  Tailoress — The  "Happy  Ship" — Roman  Catholic 
Procession  on  Good  Friday — A  mischievous  Trick — California  thoroughly 
Americanized — Californian  Adventurers  and  the  Steam-boat  Agent — The 
dead  Negro — British  Subjects  buried  in  Panama — Tone  of  American 
Papers  in  Panama — Spirit  of  Enterprise  of  the  Americans — Old  Panama 
— Reptiles  and  Insects  in  Panama— Morgan  and  his  Buccaneers — The 
Pirates  and  the  Spanish  Fleet — Wealth  said  to  have  been  buried  by  the 
Buccaneers — American  Love  of  intellectual  Progress. 

I  HAVE  decided  on  going  to  Lima.  I  find  I  shall  thus  have  an 
opportunity  of  seeing  several  other  places — besides  that  interesting 
and  famous  city — on  the  western  coast  of  South  America,  and  the 
steamers  are  said  to  be  tolerably  comfortable. 

Captain  F ,  of  H.M.S.  "Daphne,"  dined  here  last  night. 

He  is,  I  believe,  just  come  from  Realejo,  and  was  before  that  at 
the  Fejee  Islands.  He  told  me  he  had  invited  the  king  of  these 
islands,  a  reclaimed  cannibal,  to  dinner,  with  his  entire  court. 
The  invitation  was  accepted,  and  His  Majesty  and  courtiers  be- 
haved very  properly.  It  must  be  rather  a  nervous  affair  having 
a  party  of  ex-cannibals  to  dinner.  Suppose  your  viands  should 
not  be  to  their  taste,  and  in  consequence  haply  a  sudden  re-action 
of  old  habits  should  take  place,  and  the  knife  and  fork  should  be 
plunged  into  the  hosts  instead  of  into  the  mutton  and  turkey ! 

Captain  F tells  me  nothing  has  transpired  that  gives  any 

hopes  of  poor  Sir  John  Franklin  being  found. 

Mr.  Catherwood,  the  eminent  artist,  who  executed  the  splendid 
drawings  which  illustrate  Mr.  Stephens's  celebrated  work  on 
Central  America,  is  daily  expected  here  ;  but  his  non-appearance 
for  a  length  of  time,  during  which  he  has  been  "  due"  at  this  place, 
begins  to  create  some  slight  uneasiness  respecting  his  safety  and 
well-being.  He  is,  I  understand,  surveying  the  country — for  the 
American  Railroad  Company,  I  believe. 

I  have  heard  a  very  different  account  of  the  American  theatri- 
cals here  since  I  last  spoke  of  them,  and  begin  to  think  my%inform- 
ant  was  over-fastidious.  The  company  are  said  to  display  a  high 
order  of  talent,  and  much  experience  in  the  histrionic  art.  It  is 
said  they  played  "  The  Maid  of  Croissy,"  and  "  The  Swiss  Cot- 


340  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

tage,"  exceedingly  well.     Mrs.  Thorne  is  reported  to  be  a  very 
good  actress. 

Besides  these  theatricals,  the  detained  Californians  have  to  be- 
guile their  time  a  little  with  divers  other  public  amusements ; 
such  as  tight-rope  dancers,  and  stilt-waltzers  (or  still-vaulters) 
from  Carthagena.  What  the  last  are  I  know  not ;  but  they  are 
supposed  to  exhibit  much  skill  and  grace. 

I  am  afraid  I  shall  not  see  Taboga  while  I  am  here ;  but  we 
shall  pass  close  to  it,  I  believe,  in  going  to  Buenaventura,  the  first 
place  we  shall  stop-  at  on  our  voyage  to  Peru. 

A  Mr.  Frique,  who  lately  kept  a  French  hotel  here,  has  just 
opened  a  similar  establishment  in  the  island.  He  informs  the 
public,  in  an  advertisement  in  one  of  the  Panama-American  papers 
(of  which  there  are  several,  "  The  Star"  and  "  The  Echo"  very 
good,  and  well  conducted),  that  his  new  hotel  is  situated  on  the 
Plaza ;  and  that,  among  other  delectable  treasures,  it  will  have 
"  Cigars  of  the  most  recherche  brands ;"  but  M.  Frique  will  not 
reign  alone  monarch  of  all  that  is  to  be  surveyed  and  purveyed  in. 
that  place. 

A  Captain  Forbes  intends  to  build  a  rival  posada  there,  I  see, 
in  the  newspapers ;  "  a  hotel  which  is  now  on  its  way  round  the 
Horn."  Perhaps  they  have  made  a  little  mistake,  and  it  is  on  its 
way  across  the  Isthmus  in  that  huge  deal  case  we  saw  on  an 
Indian's  back. 

Taboga  is  said  to  be  a  charming  place  :  the  town  consists  of 
about  a  hundred  cabins,  with  a  number  of  stone  houses  belonging 
to  the  millionaires  of  the  place ;  and  there  is  an  extremely  pic- 
turesque old  Spanish  church.  This  town  is  built  along  a  beauti- 
ful beach,  which  is  said  to  be  half  covered  with  the  remains  of 
former  buildings,  and  where  a  whole  fleet  of  canoes  may  often 
be  seen  laid  up.  A  lovely  mountain  stream  comes  dashing  and 
sparkling  down  a  gorge  of  the  hills  at  the  back  of  the  settlement, 
and  crosses  the  middle  of  it,  on  its  course  to  the  bay.  This  clear 
stream  furnishes  water  to  all  the  ships  that  visit  Panama,  in  ad- 
dition to  supplying  the  wants  of  the  residents.  The  Americans, 
it  seems,  are  going  to  build  a  great  many  houses  at  Taboga,  in 
the  course  of  time  ;  "  and,"  says  "  The  Echo,"  "  like  New  York, 
Panama  will  then  have  a  Staten  Island  and  New  Brighton." 

I  havp  not  mentioned  the  singular  sight  I  saw  the  day  when 
I  went  to  call  on  Mrs.  H ,  to  take  leave  of  her  before  she- 
went  to  California.  Hard  at  work,  in  a  tailor's  shop,  which  of 
course  was  wide  open  to  admit  all  possible  air,  was  an  apparently 


THE  FRENCH  TAILORESS.  341 

delicate-looking  young  Frenchman,  stitching  away  at  a  coat.  This 
was  a  French  demoiselle,  or  dame,  who,  for  some  reason,  a  little 
time  ago,  perhaps  at  the  mines  of  California,  temporarily  adopted 
this  costume,  and  has  since  continued  it.  She  looked,  I  thought, 
a  quiet,  gentle  person,  and  was  remarkahly  industrious,  stitching 
away  with  most  praiseworthy  vehemence,  though  the  thermome- 
ter might  be  at  100°.  Her  hair  was  cropped  very  short,  an  ad- 
vantage in  so  oppressive  a  climate. 

Europeans  here  complain  of  the  climate  ruining  both  their  hair 
and  their,  teeth.  You  hear  sometimes  quite  young  ladies  say  they 
have  lost  almost  all  their  teeth  here,  and  have  scarcely  a  solitary 
ringlet  left.  The  native  women,  however,  seem  to  have  a  vast 
abundance  of  the  latter  ornament. 

Several  of  the  servants  here  are  natives,  and  I  think  they  ap- 
pear to  make  very  good  ones.  (The  head  servants  are  French 
and  Italian.)  One,  a  young  Indian  girl,  rejoices  in  the  soft  name 
of  Ramona.  She  is,  of  course,  excessively  dark  ;  but  is  very  pret- 
ty, with  delicate,  regular  features.  She  has  a  soft,  low  voice — 
"  an  excellent  thing  in  woman,"  whether  white,  black,  or  brown. 

An  English  gentleman  has  just  arrived  here  from  California, 

the  son  of  Sir .  He  went  to  San  Francisco  in  a  yacht,  I 

believe,  the  joint  property  of  a  number  of  friends ;  but  this  long 
'  voyage  tried  the  tempers  of  these  friends,  it  seems  ;  for,  on  relating 
his  maritime  and  other  adventures,  we  were  surprised  to  learn  that 
at  almost  every  port  they  stopped  at,  a  duel  came  off.  "What  a 
miserable  party  you  must  have  been  ?"  said  a  lady,  who  was  list- 
ening to  the  disastrous  account.  "  Oh,  no  ;  it  was  a  very  happy 
ship."  "  How  could  that  be  ?"  "  Well,  there  certainly  were  a 
great  many  duels  fought,  but  it  was  a  very  happy  ship,  indeed  !" 

If  this  gentleman  had  ever  made  a  voyage  before,  it  must  have 
been  in  a  floating  Pandemonium  ;  so  that  this  seemed  felicitous  by 
contrast. 

Monsieur  le  C has  called,  and  brought  me  some  letters  for 

Lima,  one  to  M.  de  F ,  the  French  commodore,  whose  frigate 

is  supposed  to  be  now  at  Lima.  He  is  married  to  a  young  lady 
of  Irish  descent,  who  is  said  to  be  a  very  charming  person. 

Would  the  reader  like  a  brief  account  of  a  Catholic  religious 
procession  in  this  city  on  Good  Friday  ?  The  skies  were  of  tho 
most  cloudless  azure  ;  the  weather  most  glorious,  and  not  insuffer- 
ably hot ;  and  the  moon  poured  a  sea  of  silver  light  over  every 
thing.  A  large  number  of  Americans  were  collected  in  different 
groups,  anxiously  watching  the  proceedings.  They  appeared  to  gaze 


342  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

with  deep  and  intelligent  interest  (not  a  mere  empty  curiosity — a 
far  more  intellectual  feeling)  on  a  solemn  pageant  so  new  to  most 
of  them,  and  which  was  naturally  associated,  in  their  inquiring  and 
cultivated  minds,  with  all  the  mystery,  the  religion,  and  the  his- 
tory of  the  past,  and  which  appeared  to  their  imaginations  linked 
with  all  the  powerful  memories  of  those  dark,  and  mighty,  and 
wondrous  ages,  when  the  whole  civilized  globe  trembled  at  the 
awful  thunders  of  the  Vatican — they  thought  of  the  time  when 
all  the  mightiest  powers  of  Poetry,  Harmony,  Architecture,  Ora- 
tory, Sculpture,  and  Painting — all  that  influences  and  impresses 
the  mind,  all  that  quickens  the  sympathies,  all  that  electrifies  and 
elevates  the  imagination — were  used  with  such  overpowering  ef- 
fect by  those  who  then  swayed  and  directed  at  their  will  the  whole 
Christian  World.  That  crowd  of  spectators  formed  in  itself  an 
impressive  and  significant  sight :  it  was  the  Young  World  gazing 
on  the  Old. 

The  first  part  of  the  procession  was  composed  of  men  and  chil- 
dren, carrying  long  and  large  candles,  burning.  These  were  fol- 
lowed by  penitential  banners  and  a  Cross.  The  procession  moved 
to  the  sound  of  sacred  music  ;  and  in  due  order  came  the  civil  and 
military  authorities,  some  of  them  in  very  magnificent  uniforms, 
and  bearing  the  flag  of  New  Granada.  Then  came  a  representa- 
tion of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  :  it  consisted  of  a  pyramidal  structure* 
of  four  floors,  on  each  of  which  were  placed  large  lighted  candles, 
in  glass  shades,  ranged  as  nearly  together  as  it  was  possible  to  be, 
and  all  encircled  and  decorated  with  a  profusion  of  brightly-colored 
flowers  and  glittering  ribbons.  The  effect  was  very  brilliant,  and 
borne  after  this  were  several  other  splendidly-illuminated  struc- 
tures of  less  symbolical  importance,  but  almost  equally  resplendent 
and  superb.  Then  followed  a  number  of  lovely  senoritas,  clad  in 
the  deepest  black,  and  each  bearing  a  lighted  taper  in  her  hand. 
In  different  parts  of  the  procession  were  to  be  seen  religious  en- 
thusiasts and  devotees,  both  male  and  female,  who  were  shrouded 
in  sable  drapery  ;  the  former  of  whom  continually  scourged  them- 
selves with  great  apparent  earnestness  and  frightful  severity.  Ac- 
companying these  were  priests,  and  chanters,  and  choristers,  I 
believe ;  and  as  the  loud  sound  of  the  musical  instruments  died 
softly  away,  and  the  sweet  melody  of  the  chant,  and  the  breath 
of  the  incense  charmed  the  sense,  the  scene  seemed  more  imposing 
and  touching  than  before. 

Ten  magnificent  tombs  were  erected  in  the  ten  principal  churches 
of  the  city  ;  some  were  decorated  in  a  style  of  eastern  splendor  at 


A  MISCHIEVOUS  TRICK.  343 

night,  and  made  resplendent  by  myriads  of  candles.  In  front 
of  them,  and  on  the  altar,  were  illuminated  vases,  groves  of  artifi- 
cial and  natural  flowers,  &c.  During  all  the  evening,  numbers 
of  men  and  women  went  from  one  church  to  the  other,  reciting 
prayers  for  the  heavenly  welfare  of  the  strangers  in  the  city. 

1  have  taken  a  good  deal  of  this  account  from  one  of  the  Ameri- 
can papers,  but  am  sorry  to  add  that  the  writer,  in  the  middle  of 
his  narration,  flies  into  uncontrollable  raptures  with  the  delicate 
hands  and  fairy  feet  of  the  Panamanian  Senoritas.  It  appears, 
besides,  that  at  the  close  of  the  grand  procession,  from  the  Church 
de  la  Merced,  a  disagreeable  incident  arose.  The  spectators,  and 
all  there,  were  alarmed  and  disturbed  by  a  creature  rushing  among 
them  at  a  furious  pace,  and  making  what  the  Americans  call  a 
regular  stampede.  Some  mischievous  person,  it  seemed,  had 
caught  a  donkey,  and  attached  a  dry  bufiulo  hide,  with  diabolical 
ingenuity,  to  the  elongation  of  his  spinal  process,  and  he  conceived 
he  might  rid  himself  of  the  inconvenient  appendage,  by  making  a 
sudden  and  terrific  descent  upon  the  procession. 

It  accomplished  this,  and  the  speedy  dispersion  of  the  crowd  at 
the  same  time.  The  culprit  was  finally  "comprehended  as  a 
wagrant,"  and  the  procession  again  moved  on.  But  it  seemed  the 
prestige  was  gone  after  this  unlucky  donkey-as-trophe,  and  the  de- 
viser of  this  vile  trick  rejoiced  in  its  full  success.  Was  he  an  emis- 
sary from  Exeter  Hall? 

One  of  the  sad  consequences  of  carrying  fire-arms  always  about 
the  person,  occurred  here  a  few  days  ago.  A  man  named  James 
Parker  died  of  a  gun-shot  wound  inflicted  by  a  companion  of  his  ; 
the  poor  man  survived  the  wound  more  than  a  fortnight,  most  of 
that  time  suffering  great  pain.  So  ended  the  golden  dreams  of 
California  for  this  unfortunate  sufferer. 

Glancing  at  the  newspapers  here,  you  might  almost  imagine  you 
were  in  one  of  the  busy  cities  of  the  model  republic.  I  see  an  an- 
nouncement that  the  "  New  York  Hotel  is  situated  here  in  the 
main  street,  in  the  very  centre  of  trade."  In  anticipation  of  the 
promised  Railroad,  I  hear  they  are  already  about  to  erect  a  "  llail- 
road  Hotel"  at  Gorgon  a ;  in  short,  wherever  there  is  an  Ameri- 
can, there  is  America  :  he  carries  his  country  about  with  him,  and 
his  unremitting  industry  and  perseverance  subjugate  all  around  him. 

California  by  all  accounts,  is  almost  thoroughly  Americanized, 
notwithstanding  the  large  number  of  settlers  from  other  parts  of 
the  world.  But  in  a  California!!  newspaper,  it  is  very  common  to 
see  a  strange  mixture  of  American  and  Mexican  terms  "  Ayunta- 


TRAVELS  IX  AMERICA. 


mientos,"  and  regulations  about  "  the  polls,"  "  Independent  tickets," 
and  "  Pronunciamientos,"  "  alcades,"  and  "justices  of  the  peace," 
all  mingled  together.  I  hear  there  are  now,  notwithstanding  the 
late  departures,  three  thousand  Americans  in  Panama.  However, 
a  great  many  are  going  off  in  sailing  vessels,  as  well  as  in  steamers. 

A  little  time  ago,  a  large  number  who  had  through  tickets  for 
the  "  Tennessee,"  were  awaiting  that  steamer  here,  and  she  did  not 
make  her  appearance  till  long  after  the  time  that  she  was  due. 
This  caused,  great  inconvenience,  and  consequently  immense  dis- 
satisfaction, although  generally  the  Americans  take  contretemps 
like  this  very  philosophically — but  they  suspected  some  Ibul  play, 
it  seemed.  Large  meetings  were  held,  and  committees  appointed 
to  wait  on  the  agent  of  the  Pacific  mail  line  of  steam-ships  (Amer- 
ican) here.  The  agent  promised  to  do  all  he  could  ;  but  that 
proved  to  be  nothing,  and  the  malcontents  became  more  indignant 
and  more  furious  still.  Some  of  these  were  for  seizing  the  steam- 
er "Panama"  (which  was  lying  at  Taboga  island),  vi  et  armis, 
and  instantly  proceeding  to  San  Francisco  ;  others  were  for  march- 
ing on  the  agent's  office,  and  taking  possession  of  all  the  old  ink- 
stands, desks,  books,  and  spy-glasses  belonging  to  the  company,  and 
"  holding  on  to  them"  as  collateral  security,  for  the  supposed  dama- 
ges sustained. 

The  whole  town  of  Panama  was  in  a  state  of  uproar,  and  the 
graphic  chronicler  of  these  events  says  :  "  And  now  the  tide  of  in- 
dignation began  to  swell  and  heave  mountain-high,  every  stream 
sent  its  torrent,  every  rivulet  sent  its  rill,  and  lo  !  the  avalanche, 
the  grand  climax  of  desperation,  was  at  hand  !"  On  Tuesday, 
the  disappointed  passengers  had  a  grand  meeting  in  the  Great  Pla- 
za. Gloom  and  wrath  sate  "  in  mirrored  armor,"  says  the  poet- 
ical narrator,  "on  the  brows  of  the  desponding."  Every  thing 
looked  threatening  and  angry,  when  suddenly  a  low  rumbling 
noise,  increasing  as  it  rolled  on,  till  it  was  like  the  roar  of  a 
"  young  earthquake,"  in  long  petticoats,  bib  and  tucker,  announced 
the  "Tennessee!"  "Has  she  arrived?"  "Well,  she  has." 
"  Thus  they  still  repeated  the  reverberating  sound,  and  on  the 
glad  tidings  flew  like  a  streak  of  flogged  lightning:"  and  soon 
like  a  great  leviathan  of  the  Pacific,  the  noble  ship  came  careering 
along,  toward  the  anchorage  of  the  bay.  As  she  neared  the 
place  of  mooring  a  deafening  huzza  shook  the  air,  almost  like  a 
broadside,  and  loudly  arose  the  chorus  of  that  spirited  song  : 

"Away  down  in  Tennessee, 
A  li,  e  li.  o  li,  u  li.'' 


GRAVE-YARD  IN  PANAMA.  345 

All  then  became  calm  and  serene,  and  they  went  home,  singing  : 
"Corn  cob,  twist  your  hair — cart-wheel  surround  you,"  or  some 
such  merry  ditty. 

The  grave-yard  of  Panama  is  a  melancholy  place  :  it  is  sur- 
rounded with  Avails,  in  which  the  interments  are  made.  These 
walls  have  apertures  in  the  shape  of  an  oven  to  admit  the  corpse; 
and  when  after  decay  the  bones  become  dry,  they  are  removed  to 
make  room  for  new  bodies.  The  tops  of  the  walls  of  the  gloomy 
inclosure  are  constantly  strewn  with  skull-bones,  and  the  corners 
of  this  melancholy  burial  ground  are  crowded  with  the  relics  of 
mortality. 

Also  outside  the  gates  are  graves.  An  American  editor  says, 
he  saw  there  the  other  day  a  horrible  sight — the  arm  of  a  dead 
negro  protruding  about  ten  or  twelve,  inches  out  of  the  ground  in 
a  state  of  advanced  decomposition.  The  writer  says  he  could  not 
judge  whether  this  was  done  designedly,  or  through  carelessness, 
or  whether  the  poor  wretched  negro,  recovering  from  some  swoon, 
came  to  life  after  he  was  buried,  and  weakly  thrust  his  arm  out 
thus  for  help,  to  rescue  him,  from  what  the  relater  rather  mildly 
calls  "  his  unpleasant  situation  !"  It  is  said  the  arm  has  since 
been  covered  over. 

I  suppose  from  this,  the  negroes  here  are  not  buried  in  con- 
secrated ground,  as  the  frightful  spectacle  was  beyond  the  gates. 
The  burial  ground  where  foreigners  are  interred  is  a  short  distance 
removed  from  the  native  cemetery,  and  is  a  small  inclosure  walled 
in,  and  shaded  by  some  noble  trees.  There  are  several  large 
tombstones  there. 

The  late  British  Consul,  I  believe,  built  this  small  square,  and 
occupies  a  place  in  it :  a  stone  slab  is  erected  to  his  memory.  There 
is  a  tombstone,  with  an  inscription  to  the  memory  of  "  Leonard 
Childers,  one  of  the  Secretaries  to  the  British  Legation  at  the 
Congress  of  Panama,  who  died  at  this  place  of  the  yellow  fever, 
July  16th,  1826,  aged  21  years ;"  and  another  "  Sacred  to  the 
Memory  of  John  James  Le  Mesurier,"  who  came  to  Panama,  also 
as  "  Secretary  to  Mr.  Dawkins,  Commissioner  from  the  King  of 
England  to  the  Congress  of  Panama.  He  had  not  been  here  a 
fortnight  when  he  was  seized  with  the  fever  of  this  country,  and 
died  at  the  age  of  18,  on  the  14th  of  June,  1826,  cut  down  like  the 
promise  of  a  flower  half-blown,  while  others  live  to  weep  him."  It 
is  said,  three  weeks  after  their  arrival  they  fell  ill  and  died. 

The  American  editor  of  "The  Echo"  indulges  in  a  very  noble 
strain  of  feeling  in  dwelling  on  this  subject,  and  recapitulating 


346  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

these  melancholy  details.  He  says  :  "  After  reading  the  above, 
though  an  American,  we  felt  proud  that  we  were  the  descendants 
of  British  ancestors.  Wherever  she  finds  her  subjects  in  foreign 
climes,  England  throws  over  them  the  mantle  of  protection"  (not 
Protectionists'  protection  !) ;  "  to  the  living,  she  points  to  the  lion 
and  the  unicorn,  and  the  Cross  of  St.  George,  as  the  shield  of 
defense  ;  and  to  the  dead,  whose  memories  deserve  memento,  she 
erects  tombs  and  monuments  to  perpetuate  their  deeds  and  worth. 
The  country  which  produced  such  a  poet  as  Gray,  knew  well 
when  and  where  to  erect  a  '  storied  urn  or  animated  bust'  to  the 
memory  of  her  departed  sons.  We  honor  the  man  who  loves  the 
land  of  his  birth,  and  we  admire  and  respect  the  government  which 
cherishes  the  valor  and  renown  of  her  warriors  and  her  civilians. 

"  But  to  proceed.  A  little  further  on,  we  saw  several  newly- 
made  graves — the  final  resting-places,  doubtless,  of  some  of  our  ad- 
venturous countrymen.  A  number  of  them  had  no  board  to  in- 
dicate their  name,  or  state  from  whence  they  came  !  Those  that 
had  an  inscription  on  their  headstones  we  give  below."  (Then 
follow  the  names  of  a  few  of  the  writer's  countrymen.) 

To  have  a  thoroughly  good  and  most  extensive  view  of  the  bay, 
the  ocean,  the  islands,  the  forests,  and  a  hundred  miles  of  shore, 
the  visitor  to  Panama  should  ascend  the  bold  steep  called  the  Cerro 
Lancon.  About  five  in  the  morning,  before  the  intense  heat  com- 
mences, is  the  best  time.  I  have  not  been  able  to  attempt  it  in 
consequence  of  this  "rose-asthma"  I  have  had. 

There  was  a  robbery  the  other  day  at  the  Western  Hotel  (about 
1200  dollars  were  stolen).  A  man  was  suspected,  arid  he,  finding 
himself  about  to  be  arrested,  ran  off,  but  was  closely  pursued,  and 
near  "  Theatre-lane,"  he  threw  a  watch  over  the  walls.  He  was 
secured,  and  the  watch  was  found,  with  the  glass  broken,  of  course : 
it  is  said  it  was  stolen  from  a  passenger  at  the  hotel  about  three 
weeks  ago.  When  charged  with  the  robbery,  he  acknowledged 
he  had  stolen  the  gold  watch,  but  denied  any  knowledge  of  or  par- 
ticipation in  the  recent  theft  of  the  money.  When  it  was  made 
apparent  that  he  had  stolen  the  watch,  the  crowd  "  were  for  Lynch- 
ing hkn  on  the  spot,  and  but  for  the  intervention  of  Mr.  Vinton," 
says  the  journal,  "would  have  accomplished  their  purpose."  He 
was  committed  to  jail  to  await  his  trial.  A  reward  of  three 
hundred  dollars  has  been  offered  for  the  detection  of  the  robber  or 
robbers  and  return  of  the  money,  or  two  hundred  dollars  for  the 
restoration  of  the  money  only. 

Nothing  can  be  better  than  the  tone  in  general  of  the  American 


AMERICAN  PAPERS.  347 

papers  established  here.  They  are  the  sworn  enemies  of  all  dis- 
order and  demoralization,  and  the  consistent  advocates  and  sup- 
porters of  justice  and  right.  I  see  in  the  papers  that  Lynch  law 
is  most  uncompromisingly  condemned.  Earnestly  do  "  we  depre- 
cate such  a  course  of  procedure  ;  it  is  subversive  of  all  law  and 
the  most  sacred  rights  of  the  citizen ;  it  should  be  frowned  down, 
by  all  well-thinking  men." 

What  a  wonderful  people  the  'Americans  are  !  One  finds  one- 
self continually  repealing  this  mentally,  when  hearing  of,  or  seeing 
their  indomitable  determination  and  force  of  character.  What  a 
wonderful  people,  individually  and  collectively  !  Some  time  ago, 

many  left  Panama,  Mr.  P informs  me,  in  old  whale-boats,  in 

the  "  dug-outs"  of  the  natives,  which  they  converted  into  a  rough 
land  of  schooner,  and  in  iron  boats.  One  of  these  iron  boats  was 
dragged  across  the  isthmus  by  fifty  or  sixty  men,  and  went  safely, 
1  believe,  to  San  Francisco ;  but  they  put  out  to  sea  in  many 
wretched  vessels,  entirely  unsea worthy.  When  Mr.  Bayard 
Taylor  was  here,  he  said  many  small  companies  of  men  started  in 
the  miserable  log-canoes  of  the  natives  for  El  Dorado,  and  after  a 
forty  days'  voyage,  during  which  time  they  only  reached  the  Island 
of  Quibo,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Gulf,  the  greater  part  returned  :  the 
remainder  had  not  been  heard  of. 

Old  Panama,  built  by  the  conqueror  Pizarro,  is  at  some  dis- 
tance from  the  comparatively  modern  town  ;  it  is  further  up  the 
coast.  The  present  city  was  built  in  1070  ;  but  when  I  look  at 
its  extraordinary  state  of  decay  and  dilapidation,  it  is  really  diffi- 
cult to  believe  it  is  not  far  older.  In  how  much  better  repair  is 
Pompeii  ! 

There  do  not  seem  to  be  many  pleasant  walks  or  rides  near  the 
city,  by  all  accounts.  When  you  have  passed  through  the  neigh- 
boring orchards  and  gardens,  begin  the  dense  woods,  through  which 
there  are  some  narrow  mule-paths,  and  of  which  the  embowering, 
entangled,  and  thickly-accumulated  underwood  is  completely  im- 
penetrable to  the  outward  air.  There  is  a  malaria,  too,  arising 
from  the  always  enormous  quantity  of  decaying  vegetable  matter, 
so  you  may  stand  a  chance  of  being  asphyxized  or  poisoned. 

Then  the  reptiles  and  insects  are  too  endless  for  me  to  attempt 
any  enumeration  of  them,  beyond  the  more  familiar  names  of 
musquitoes,  garrapatos,  centipedes,  scorpions,  poisonous  spiders, 
tarantulas,  snakes,  ants,  and  jiggers.  The  ants,  by  the  way,  eat 
away  the  houses  here ;  when  once  they  have  effected  a  lodgment, 
the  beams  quickly  crumble  away  under  their  virulent  attacks. 


TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 


There  are  others  that  destroy  paper,  and  others,  again,  that  make 
it.  There  are  great  numbers  of  winged  ants  here — such  little 
torments !  They  seem  to  be  constantly  devising  different  ingenious 
methods  of  worrying  you,  for  they  fly  about  your  head  and  face, 
and  when  you  think  you  have  succeeded  in  driving  them  away, 
they  suddenly  drop  their  wings  entirely,  and  follow  this  up  by 
dropping  themselves  on  your  book,  and  rapidly  crawling  all  over 
the  open  page.  If  you  are  drinking  a  glass  of  lemonade,  you  find 
it  suddenly  covered  with  floating  ants'  wings,  that  stick  in  your 
throat  and  half  choke  you.  If  the  little  wretches  would  consult 
their  looking-glasses,  they  would  save  vis  that  annoyance  perhaps, 
for  they  are  tolerably  well-favored  insects  with  wings,  and  fright- 
fully ugly  little  plagues  without. 

Here  conies  a  shower  of  wings  on  my  paper.  Are  the  little 
rogues  turned  poetical  ?  and  do  they  mean  figuratively  to  bid  the 
letter  "haste,  haste,  post  haste?"  a  sentence  our  good  old  fore- 
fathers were  wont  to  write  on  their  scrolls ;  they  who  did  not 
know  what  haste  meant  !  when  very  Time  seemed  to  have 
dropped  his  wings,  like  these  identical  ants,  and  to  go  limping 
along  with  a  crutch  and  a  gouty  shoe.  Their  world,  indeed,  stood 
on  a  tortoise,  as  some  of  the  eastern  nations  say. 

The  American  population  resident  here,  and  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, are  talking  of  organizing  a  police  of  their  own,  to  prevent 
brawls,  burglaries,  and  street-fights.  All  kinds  of  strange  accounts 
come  in  from  California  :  among  other  things  it  is  said  a  man  was 
actually  starved  to  death  in  a  place  called  the  "  Happy  Valley." 
He  was  found  quite  dead,  after  having  literally  gnawed  and  eaten 
the  flesh  from  his  own  arms  in  the  desperate  struggle  with  the 
icy  King  of  Terrors.  There  are  a  great  many  terrible  stories  of 
suicide  and  madness,  and  horrors  and  misery  of  all  kinds  there. 

I  believe  the  settlers  suffer  a  great  deal  in  going  there,  very 

often,  too.  Mr.  P says  some  time  since  a  small  ship,  or 

rather  boat,  started,  so  crowded  with  emigrants  to  California,  that 
it  bore  the  greatest  possible  resemblance  to  a  human  bee-hive, 
and  that  literally  the  unfortunate,  half-suffocated  passengers  might 
be  seen  seated  in  a  long  row  on  the  edge,  with  their  legs  and 
feet  dangling  in  the  water,  thus  attempting  to  keep  themselves 
cool. 

There  are  a  good  many  shops  here,  but  articles  in  general 
seem  very  dear.  House-rent  appears  to  be  enormously  high,  and 

Mr.  P pays  as  much  or  more  for  his  house,  unfurnished  and 

unfinished  (for  he  had  to  do  almost  every  thing  to  it  short  of  build- 


MORGAN  AND  HIS  PIRATES.  349 

ing  the  walls),  as  is  demanded  for  a  first-rate  house  in  one  of  the 
most  fashionable  parts  of  London. 

I  have  already  mentioned  that  Old  Panama  was  destroyed  by 
the  buccaneers  in  1670,  under  the  noted  Morgan.  In  1685,  a  vast 
number  of  Filibustieros,  or  Buccaneers,  in  three  companies,  came 
from  Mantanzas  (in  Cuba)  and  from  the  Caribbean  Sea,  and  shaped 
their  course  to  this  part  of  the  continent,  and  after  encountering 
immense  difficulties,  and  experiencing  fearful  hardships,  they  cross- 
ed the  land  in  about  a  fortnight,  and  arrived  at  the  Pacific  shore. 
One  of  these  companies  was  formed  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
Englishmen  ;  the  second  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  Frenchmen ; 
the  third  of  two  hundred  and  sixty  persons,  who  were  also  French. 

They  arrived  at  a  bay  called  Bocachica,  and  there  they  found 
two  canoes,  which  had  been  s<?nt  to  meet  them  by  the  allied  bucca- 
neers, French  and  English,  whose  fleet  was  cruising  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  this  city.  After  a  little  repose  they  started  for  some  islands 
called  the  King's  Islands,  about  ninety  miles  from  Panama,  where 
they  met  the  fleet,  which  was  now  composed  of  ten  vessels — two 
frigates,  four  ships,  three  barques,  and  one  brig.  Out  of  the  ten 
commanders,  eight  were  English,  one  French,  and  the  other 
Dutch  ;  this  last  was  the  Admiral,  and  he  was  called  David. 
The  number  of  men  in  the  vessels  was  eleven  hundred.  Most  of 
these  vessels  had  been  taken  by  some  Englishmen  under  com- 
mand of  David,  and  brought  through  the  Straits  of  Magellan  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  chief  now  resolved  to  attack  the  Spanish  fleet,  which  at 
that  time  of  the  year  usually  came  from  Lima  to  Panama  ;  the 
first  expedition  they  made,  however,  was  to  seize  on  the  city  of 
Seppa,  about  twenty-one  miles  east  of  Panama  :  five  hundred  men 
were  engaged  in  this  expedition,  who  embarked  in  about  two-and- 
twenty  large  war-canoes.  Seppa  was  taken,  but  it  contained 
comparatively  little  treasure;  so  that  the  disappointed  pirates 
looked  on  this  expedition  as  a  serious  loss  of  time,  with  very  little 
profit.  In  May  they  left  Seppa,  and  returned  to  their  ships,  which 
were  waiting  at  a  little  distance  from  the  town. 

Then  the  fleet  weighed  anchor,  and  started  to  the  westward, 
along  the  coast  toward  Panama.  They  passed  on  the  8th  of  May 
in  sight  of  the  ruins  of  Old  Panama,  which  had  been  destroyed  by 
Morgan,  and  a  great  number  of  the  very  men  who  were  then 
actually  in  this  fleet  in  the  later  expedition.  They  shortly  after- 
ward reached  the  present  town  of  Panama,  and  went  down  to  the 
island  of  Taboga,  which  island,  says  the  chronicler  of  these  events, 


350  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

seemed  to  them  a  perfectly  enchanted  spot,  so  admirable  was  the 
beauty  of  its  vegetation,  and  so  splendid  the  edifices  constructed 
there  by  the  wealthy  inhabitants  of  Panama.  The  pirates,  on 
the  9th  and  10th  of  May,  were  anxiously  employed  in  watching 
for  the  appearance  of  the  expected  Spanisli  fleet. 

At  last,  on  the  17th  of  that  month,  seven  noble  ships  were  seen 
coming  toward  the  buccaneers,  with  the  royal  Spanish  flag  nailed 
to  the  mast-head.  The  fleet  of  the  Filibustieros  rejoiced  heartily 
at  this  sight,  exclaiming  that  their  hopes  were  about  to  be  realized, 
and  that  the  great  struggle  was  at  hand.  None  but  those  who 
have  either  gazed  upon  or  participated  in  an  ocean  battle,  can 
paint  to  their  imagination  the  tremendous  scene  which  shortly 
after  was  exhibited  on  the  great  Pacific,  when  those  two  hostile 
fleets  met  "  in  concerted  array,"  on  the  foam-crested  billows.  For 
the  desperate  and  lawless  corsairs,  it  would  either  be  a  victory  that 
would  place  them  almost  at  the  summit  of  their  proudest  hopes,  or 
a  complete  annihilation  of  their  powers  arid  their  terrors.  Like 
the  pirate-scourers  and  sea-bandits  of  the  Gulf,  their  flag  displayed 
the  ghastly  death's  head  and  bones,  and  they  were  doggedly  re- 
solved to  a  man,  to  sink  or  swim  under  their  almost  worshiped 
piratical  banner.  The  admirals  of  the  two  opposing  fleets,  with 
their  forces  drawn  up  in  the  order  of  fight,  were  met  to  dispute 
the  sovereignty  and  supremacy  of  the  great  South  Sea ;  for,  in- 
deed, at  that  period  few  vessels,  save  those  of  the  Filibustieros  and 
the  Spaniards,  cruised  in  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  battle  was  long  contested,  and  at  one  time  the  Spaniards 
had  the  decided  advantage  over  their  opponents,  and  would  have 
had  a  most  complete  triumph  ;  but  unfortunately  for  them  they 
lacked  a  skillful  and  experienced  commander  to  direct  their  oper- 
ations, and  this  proved,  of  course,  a  most  serious  drawback  to  tPieir 
cause.  The  pirates  had  their  vessels  greatly  injured,  and  found 
themselves  obliged  to  fly  in  all  directions,  and  land  on  divers 
points  of  the  coast,  to  repair  their  armament.  But  although  over- 
come in  the  first  skirmish  they  were  not  destroyed,  and  without 
considering  their  material  and  numerical  inferiority,  they  sailed 
again  on  the  26th  of  June  for  Panama,  recruited  in  spirits,  confi- 
dent in  hope,  and  with  all  their  vessels  repaired.  The  Spaniards 
in  the  interim  had  fortified  the  city,  and  with  their  vessels  in  good 
order  were  waiting,  thoroughly  prepared  to  encounter  their  deadly 
and  relentless  foe. 

But  the  cunning  Filibustierios,  seeing  they  had  no  chance  of 
then  overpowering  their  adversaries,  or  attacking  them  with  the 


ATTACK  ON  PANAMA.  351 

faintest  prospect  of  victory,  abandoned  for  a  time  the  enterprise, 
and  went  on  smaller  expeditions  along  the  coast,  assailing  and 
sacking  cities,  and  plundering  vessels  wherever  they  could  find  any 
treasure  worthy  their  attention. 

Among  these  lesser  expeditions,  one  of  the  most  important  was 
directed  against  the  city  of  Realejo,  795  miles  west  of  Panama. 
Realejo  was  taken  and  hurnt  down  in  October,  together  with  a 
considerable  number  of  towns  and  villages  in  the  vincinity.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  year  1686,  the  buccaneers  with  their  fleets, 
directed  their  course  toward  the  city  of  Panama,  and,  as  they  had 
previously  done,  made  Taboga  their  head-quarters.  After  having 
made  their  depot  secure  by  strengthening  and  fortifying  it  as  well 
as  they  could,  they  resolved  on  losing  no  time  in  making  au  on- 
slaught on  the  city;  and  they  obliged  the  President  of  Panama 
(as  a  preliminary  measure  to  their  operations)  to  surrender  all  the 
prisoners  the  Spaniards  had  taken  in  the  previous  ferocious  en- 
gagements on  these  waters.  They  then  seized  all  the  provisions 
in  the  place,  to  sustain  them  in  their  lawless  career ;  and  after 
that,  they  made  a  further  demand  on  the  President,  insisting  on 
his  paying  six  thousand  dollars ;  to  which  demand,  backed  by  so 
formidable  a  force,  the  President  submitted. 

Emboldened  by  their  success,  the  freebooters,  with  their  usual 
audaciousness,  again  made  a  levy  of  ten  thousand  dollars  on  the 
President,  to  which  the  Spanish  chief  magistrate,  though  with 
reluctance  and  deep  humiliation,  was  compelled  by  circumstances 
to  submit.  The  buccaneers,  having  extorted  these  sums  of  money, 
returned,  well  pleased  with  their  success ;  and  they  proceeded  up 
the  Bay  of  Panama. 

The  pirates  during  the  years  16SG  and  1687  haunted  the  sea- 
coast  of  Central  America,  and  successively  seized  on  all  the  pros- 
perous and  flourishing  cities  which  the  Spaniards  had  built  in  that 
part  of  t&e  world.  Realejo,  Acapulco,  and  Tequilla  were  taken  and 
plundered  by  them.  A  party  of  the  Filibustieros  sailed  in  one  of 
their  vessels,  and  went  as  far  as  California,  where  they  found  some 
Spanish  settlements  and  missions  already  established.  But  the  El 
Dorado  of  the  present  time  was  then  not  known  to  possess  such 
golden  attractions;  and  as  the  promise  of  plunder  and  booty  in 
those  regions  appeared  to  be  small,  they  resolved  to  abandon  the 
now  far-famed  land,  as  not  presenting  sufficient  charms  or  guer- 
dons for  their  bold  exploits  and  intrepid  achievements. — It  was 
said  of  old,  the  inhabitants  of  the  "Eureka  State"  were  so  poor, 
they  lived  upon  fried  grasshoppers. 


352  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

The  buccaneers,  wherever  they  presented  themselves,  were  com- 
monly successful  :  but  at  length  the  Spaniards,  becoming  more 
accustomed  to  their  peculiar  mode  of  warfare,  fortified  their  cities, 
and  increased  their  defenses ;  while  the  pirates,  from  leading  a 
rough,  roving,  and  irregular  life,  exposed  to  countless  hardships 
and  privations,  were  being  diminished  day  by  day  ;  so  that,  toward 
the  termination  of  their  wonderful  career  in  the  Pacific,  a  mere 
skeleton  of  this  once-powerful  banded  force  of  ocean  brigands  was 
left  as  a  small  nucleus,  around  which  to  muster  and  rally  their 
marauding  and  piratical  forces.  Whenever  there  was  a  city  de- 
stroyed by  these  corsairs,  the  Spaniards  immediately  reconstruct- 
ed it  again,  fortified  it  with  the  strongest-walled  barriers,  and  fur- 
nished it  with  guns  of  the  heaviest  calibre. 

The  buccaneers,  having  succeeded  in  accumulating  immense 
hoards  of  treasure,  tired  of  their  life  of  lawless  enterprise,  and  with 
their  best  leaders  growing  gray  and  superannuated,  resolved  at 
length  to  abandon  their  pillaging  and  piracies  of  the  Southern  Seas 
and  the  cities  of  the  coast,  and  to  return  home,  leaving  their  extra- 
ordinary deeds  and  works  behind  them,  for  the  wonder,  the  admira- 
tion, or  condemnation  of  after  ages. 

In  the  year  1688,  they  returned  to  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic, 
directing  their  footsteps  across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  by  the 
same  route  they  had  taken  in  their  unhallowed  pilgrimage  west- 
ward. The  terrible  piratical  flag  of  the  death's  head  and  bones 
never  more  streamed  in  hideous  ascendency  over  the  mighty  waters 
of  the  Pacific,  as  if  the  King  of  Terrors  himself  were  watching  for 
his  prey,  determined  that  the  bright  waves  of  the  Southern  Seas 
should  vie  with  the  graves  of  Earth  in  concealing  the  mouldering 
remains  of  mortality. 

This  is  a  brief  sketch  of  the  last  famous  voyage  of  the  bucca- 
neers in.  the  Pacific.  It  appears  to  be  very  commonly  believed 
that  they  did  not  carry  with  them  (when  they  abandoned  their 
life  of  peril  and  plunder)  all  the  vast,  the  almost  unbounded  riches 
they  had  accumulated,  by  perpetually  pillaging  vessels,  and  sack- 
ing flourishing  and  wealthy  cities. 

Many  historians  and  narrators  have  thought  (and  it  is  said  that 
a  great  number  of  persons  in  Panama  believe  it)  that  they  deposited 
an  enormous  amount  of  wealth  (specie  and  heaps  of  jewels)  under- 
ground, in  some  of  the  islands  which  were  their  usual  places  of 
rendezvous,  in  the  intervals  of  their  daring  expeditions,  which 
costly  treasures  they  did  not,  from  various  reasons,  dig  up  from 
their  hiding-places.  These  islands  are  situated  between  Panama 


THE  AMERICAN  PRESS.  353 

and  Realejo,  all  along  the  coast.  In  late  times  some  exploring 
parties  have  been  organized  to  seek  in  these  localities  for  the  spots 
where  it  is  supposed  some  of  these  valuable  treasures  were  hidden. 
No  satisfactory  discoveries  have  been  made  as  yet ;  no  precious 
jewels,  no  heaps  of  gold,  no  chests  of  silver  bullion,  have  shone 
forth,  to  reward  the  treasure-hunter's  toil.  To  this  hour,  it  .appears, 
the  earth,  to  whose  keeping  the  gathered  spoils  were  confided,  has 
guarded  the  wealth  in  her  secret  recesses. 

There  are  a  great  many  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  explorers ; 
but,  if  the  tale  be  true,  I  have  no  doubt  that,  sooner  or  later,  the 
indefatigable  hands  of  Americans  will  succeed  in  disemboweling 
the  treasures,  and  giving  back  to  the  light  of  <lay  the  precious  spoils 
that  rewarded  the  intrepid  enterprises  and  fearless  adventures  of 
the  famous  and  powerful  Filibustieros.  There  are,  however, 
nobler  objects  for  the  Americans  to  direct  their  minds  toward  ac- 
complishing. 

Bolivar,  though  doubtless  he  in  some  respects,  revolutionized 
the  minds  of  the  people,  and  made  them  friends  of  liberty,  yet  did 
little  more  for  their  advancement  or  their  enlightenment.  He  left 
behind  him  nothing,  here  at  least  it  would  seem,  that  could  con- 
tribute either  toward  the  intellectual  elevation  of  their  minds,  or 
to  the  enlargement  of  their  stores  of  knowledge.  It  is  said  there 
is  an  educational  institution  here,  not  much  superior  to  an  infant 
school  in  England.  The  industrial  pursuits  of  peace  are  but  poorly 
and  scantily  developed,  and  the  Americans  may,  and  I  doubt  not 
will  do  much  in  time  by  their  enlightened  example  and  assistance 
in  awakening  the  dormant  energies  of  the  people,  and  improving 
their  intellectual  condition  generally.  Wherever  an  American 
goes,  there  springs  up  his  free  press — the  constant  accompaniment 
of  his  footsteps. 

It  is  asserted  that  during  the  Mexican  war  the  Americans  had 
newspapers  constantly  printed  to  amuse  their  anxious  and  weary 
hours,  animate  and  Hghten  their  labors,  and  reconcile  them  to 
hardships  and  privations  of  all  kinds.  An  American  looks  upon 
his  daily  press  and  his  daily  bread  as  equally  necessary  to  his  ex- 
istence. 


CHAPTER   XLIV. 

The  probable  Future  of  Panama — South  American  Railroads  projected— 
Gold-seekers  in  Panama — Large  Importation  of  Fruit-trees  into  California 
— American  Improvements  in  Panama — Alleged  lll-treatrr^nt  of  Emi- 
grants by  Ship-owners — The  Green  Mountain  Yankee — The  Indians  and 
the  damp  Gunpowder.  The  Government  of  New  Granada— Its  recent 
Policy. 

WHAT  will  be  the  future  of  Panama,  it  is  impossible  with  any 
precision  to  say.  Situated  as  it  is  about  midway  between  Patago- 
nia and  the  United  States'  possessions  up  to  the  confines  of  Oregon, 
it  is  most  favorably  placed  ;  and  its  commercial  facilities  in  this 
central  position,  are  almost  unrivaled  by  any  port  on  the  western 
side  of  this  great  continent  nearer  than  Valparaiso  in  the  south,  or 
San  Francisco  in  the  west. 

If  it  ever  has  a  railroad  or  a  canal  connecting  the  waters  of  the 
two  oceans,  terminating  at  this  point  or  in  the  vicinity,  it  would 
be  scarcely  possible  to  exaggerate  the  enormous  magnitude  and 
amount  of  the  trade,  which  would  follow  the  completion  of  either 
of  these  means  of  transit  and  oceanic  intercommunication.  What 
an  immensity  of  traffic  would  necessarily  centre  here  !  How  would 
this  wretchedly  dilapidated  city  spring  up  from  ruin'and  decay,  and 
more  than  regain  its  pristine  splendor !  how  would  it  extend  its 
dimensions  ;  recruit  its  impoverished  finances,  and  probably  become 
at  no  very  distant  period  the  capital  and  the  commercial  metrop- 
olis of  a  wealthy  and  wide-spread  empire. 

The  products  of  China  and  Japan,  and  the  innumerable  fabrics 
of  eastern  climes  and  lands,  would  assuredly  seek  this  as  the  easiest 
and  most  direct  communication  with  the  United  States  and  with 
Europe ;  and  the  route  of  Cape  Horn,  so  tedious  and  perilous,  would 
be  entirely  abandoned.  How  would  the  flags  of  all  the  nations  of 
the  world  be  reflected  on  the  waters  of  this  beautiful  bay  ! 

The  government  of  New  Granada  appears  to  be  a  very  liberal 
government,  on  the  whole ;  and  from  all  I  can  collect,  it  seems  to 
be  nearly  th1?  best  of  the  South  American  republican  governments 
altogether.  The  President,  in  his  message  last  month,  was  able 
to  say  :  "  New  Granada  is  at  peace  with  all  the  neighboring  re- 
publics, arid%the  great  Powers  of  the  North,  and  of  Europe.  While 
the  other  republics  of  South  America  are  still  disturbed  by  internal 


RAILROADS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.  355 

troubles,  New  Granada  presents  the  spectacle  of  peace  and  happi- 
ness." 

I  believe  the  same  steamer  in  which  we  are  going  to  Lima  will 
convey  to  Callao  in  Peru  and  to  Chili  the  engineers  who  are  en- 
gaged to  superintend  the  formation  of  the  first  railroads  ever  con- 
structed in  South  America.  An  American  company  is  going  to 
commence  a  line  in  Chili  from  the  port  of  Caldera,  on  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  to  Copiapo,  in  the  mining  district  of  that  country,  about 
fifty-five  miles  from  the  sea-board.  The  chief  and  most  active  di- 
rectors of  this  company  are  natives  of  the  United  States,  who  have 
been  for  many  years  resident  in  Chili,  and  have  justly  acquired  a 
very  considerable  influence  there  by  their  character  for  enterprise, 
their  liberality,  and  public  spirit. 

Copiapo,  in  the  province  of  Coquimbo,  is  above  500  miles  north 
of  Valparaiso,  in  one  of  the  most  productive  of  the  mining  districts 
of  Chili.  It  is  said  to  be  about  1100  feet  above  the  Pacific,  and 
the  road  will  be  55  miles  long,  with  descending  grades  from  that 
point  to  the  coast,  the  grades  not  to  exceed  fifty  feet  to  the  mile  in 
any  part.  The  engines  are  made  by  Messrs.  Norris,  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  cars,  and  turn-tables,  and  the  entire  equipment  of 
the  road,  are  made  in  the  United  States.  The  iron  for  the  rails, 
I  believe,  came  from  England.  The  other  line  is  much  shorter, 
being  only  from  Callao  to  Lima,  about  eight  miles. 

These,  the  first  two  railroads  in  South  America,  are  almost  cer- 
tain to  be  successful,  and  will  introduce,  under  i'avorable  auspices, 
to  this  vast  continent,  one  of  the  most  prominent  features  of  modern 
civilization  and  prosperity.  It  is  an  era,  indeed,  for  the  people  of 
these  regions. 

Americans  still  keep  pouring  into  Panama ;  for  steamers  are 
continually  coming  to  Chagres,  bringing  large  parties  of  emigrants. 
We  hear  that  several  have  lately  lost  their  way  in  the  dense  for- 
ests of  the  isthmus.  It  often  becomes  indispensably  necessary  to 
lighten  the  ascending  canoes  (overloaded  as  they  i'requently  are) 
about  six  miles  below  Gorgona,  and  the  passengers  are  required  to 
find  their  own  way  as  best  they  can  to  that  place.  They  usually 
try  to  take  a  path  across  the  country  ;  but  as  it  is  exceedingly  dif- 
ficult to  do  this,  they  often  miss  their  way,  and  many  of  them 
acquire,  unwillingly,  a  great  deal  of  topographical  knowledge  from 
having  to  pass  a  weary  night  among  the  woods  and  hills ;  but  it 
sometimes  ends  seriously. 

Mr.  Montague,  an  American  gentleman,  told  me  the  other  day 
he  had  heard  some  dead  bodies  had  been  found  in  the  forest,  which, 


356  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

there  was  too  much  reason  to  suppose,  were  the  remains  of  some 
of  his  unfortunate  countrymen. 

We  begin  to  like  much  the  style  of  living  here,  and  especially 
the  cool,  light  architecture  of  the  houses  :  the  rooms  are  invariably 
high,  and  the  windows  and  doors  very  large.  In  these  hot  coun- 
tries, in  general,  by  the  way,  it  seems  the  heights  of  the  natives' 
houses  might  serve  as  a  kind  of  thermometer,  to  inform  the  traveler 
of  the  average  degrees  of  heat.  It  appears  that  the  temperature 
instinctively,  to  a  certain  extent,  determines  the  elevation.  Where 
there  is  great  heat,  the  habitations  are  enormously  high,  and  where 
the  atmosphere  is  subject  occasionally  to  chilly  damps,  or  the  place 
is  exposed  to  winds  more  or  less  violent,  the  roofs  are  proportionally 
lower.  They  generally  build  their  houses,  in  the  native  villages, 
on  a  raised  bank  of  earth. 

In  all  the  warm  regions  the  invaluable  bamboo  furnishes  "  the 
uprights"  at  the  angles  of  the  proposed  edifice,  and  the  jambs  of  the 
doorways ;  and  when  the  heat  is  uninterrupted  and  uniform,  mats 
of  the  palm  usually,  and  other  easily-appropriated  materials,  form 
the  slight  partitions  within  and  without  (in  most  of  the  houses 
there  are  only  the  canes  for  walls).  Every  where  the  thatched  or 
tiled  roof  presents  a  spacious  veranda,  an  open  colonnade,  which 
surrounds  the  house  (of  enormous  dimensions  in  some  of  the  better 
houses),  which  veranda  is  in  fact  a  continuation  of  the  sloping 
line  of  the  roof  beyond  the  upright  partitions,  and  either  a  length- 
ening of  the  rafter-like  timbers  of  the  roof  resting  their  termina- 
tions on  a  line  of  perpendicular  posts  beyond  the  wall  of  the  house, 
or  an  addition  made  after  the  construction  of  the  simple  edifice. 

I  hear  that  for  several  days  past  a  number  of  the  detained  Cal- 
ifornians  have  been  washing  with  bowls  and  tin  pans  the  earth 
and  sand  near  the  breaches  in  the  ancient  wall  on  the  south  side 
of  Panama.  There  were  rumors  that  some  sparkling  dust  had 
been  observed  by  persons  accidentally  wandering  in  that  vicinity. 
The  eager  emigrants  (hoping  they  had  detected  a  rival  to  the 
mighty  gold-dust-bin,  California !)  instantly  began  to  dig  out  the 
vast  mass  of  rubbish  scattered  about  in  that  neighborhood,  think- 
ing any  thing  that  glittered  on  the  Pacific  coast  must  be  gold ;  but 
on  carefully  testing  the  produce  of  their  day's  zealous  labors,  they 
found  they  had  got  nothing  but  the  scorious  refuse  from  some 
Spanish  bell-casting  or  cannon-founding  of  olden  times. 

I  mentioned  that  we  had  seen  emerge  from  the  cavernous  hold 
of  the  "  Georgia"  a  small  forest  of  trees,  as  if  from  that  "  oak  levi- 
athan" were  sprouting  numerous  younger  branches.  It  appears 


FRUIT-TREES  FOR  CALIFORNIA.  357 

probable  that  they  belonged  to  a  Mr.  Booth,  of  New  Jersey,  who 
is  taking  with  him  to  the  El  Dorado  about  thirty  thousand  fruit- 
trees.  What  a  benefactor  is  this  orchard-planter  to  all  the  future 
little  school-boys  of  the  Gold  State  !  Who  does  the  most  good,  the 
leader  in  wars  and  insurrections,  or  the  public- spirited  individual 
who  benevolently  adopts  means  to  provide  posterity  with  the  bless- 
ings of  pumpkin-pies,  or  seeks  to  lighten  the  labors  of  learning  by 
affording  the  cheering  consolations  of  apple-dumplings  ?  Apples, 
too,  grown  in  such  a  soil !  Must  not  every  pippin  be  a  golden 
pippin,  and  indeed  every  apple  equal  to  the  one  for  which  three 
goddesses  disputed  ] 

The  El  Doradians  are  too  good-natured  to  be  angry  with  me  for 
a  little  Californian  epitaph  I  made  the  other  day  : 

Frienc's !  but  let  me  for  awhile  in  this  auriferous  soil  remain, 

Then,  when  changed  to  gold-dust,  dig  me  up,  and  take  me  home  again. 

We  are  informed  that  American  improvements  are  thronging  fast 
in  upon  the  Panamanians.  A  genuine  Yankee  hand-cart  has  been 
seen  in  the  Plaza,  the  first  vehicle  of  the  kind  ever  witnessed  here 
— at  least  within  the  memory  of  man.  There  is  an  ox-cart, 
besides,  just  established  for  heavy  goods,  drawn  by  a  solemn-look- 
ing pair  of  oxen,  particularly  dilatory  in  their  movements,  who 
are  tugged  along  by  a  mozo,  by  means  of  a  rope  in  their  noses. 
"  Clear  the  track  !"  cry  the  Americans,  who  are  charmed  at  these 
signs  of  coming  improvements,  and  hail  the  innovations  heartily. 

Several  of  the  steamers  over-due  have  not  yet  arrived,  and  much 
discontent  continues  to  prevail.  Some  of  the  poor  passengers  have 
not  hesitated  to  say  they  considered  themselves  swindled  out  of 
their  money  ;  others  declare  they  have  already  submitted  to  cruel 
hardships  and  impositions.  I  hear  that  many  of  them  protest  they 
were  shown  a  diagram  of  the  ship  (a  most  perfect  model)  they 
were  to  take  their  passage  in,  and  the  exact  position  of  their  berth 
was  pointed  out  to  them ;  but  they  were  soon  lamentably  un- 
deceived :  they  were  thrust,  they  say,  into  a  different  quarter  from 
that  which  had  been  shown  to  them,  and  instead  of  a  berth,  an 
atrocious  invention  of  the  enemy  called  a  "  standee"  (a  miserable 
thing,  made  to  be  just  put  up  at  night  for  the  f/zs-accommodation 
of  the  unlucky  martyrs)  was  substituted.  Yet  they  all  look  as 
good-humored  as  ever,  when  by  chance  you  see  them  sauntering 
about,  and  trying  to  do  nothing,  which  seems  very  difficult  to  them 
— a  herculean  task,  indeed  ! 

I  must  give  the  reader,  for  his  edification,  an  account  of  a  eon 


358  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

of  the  Green  Mountains,  in  the  United  States,  during  a  storm  at 
sea :  in  the  papers  it  is  headed,  characteristically,  "  It  takes  a 
Yankee,  it  does !"  During  the  last  trip  of  the  nohle  steam-ship 
"  Ohio,"  from  New  York  to  Chagres,  and  while  the  terrific  gale 
which  she  encountered  was  raging  at  its  very  highest  pitch,  and 
half  the  passengers  were  on  their  knees,  expecting  the  vessel  to  go 
to  the  bottom  every  moment,  and  the  other  half  standing  aghast, 
and  gazing  horror-stricken  at  the  awful  abyss  of  foaming  water 
yawning  hideously  before  them,  a  tall,  Green  Mountain  Yankee, 
from  Vermont,  with  a  white  hat  stuck  knowingly  (and  how  it 
stuck  on  at  all  in  that  gale  must  ever  remain  a  mystery !)  on  one 
side  of  his  head,  was  observed  pacing  the  deck,  deeply  "  calc'lat- 
ing,"  and  soon  he  was  heard  inquiring  whether  there  were  any 
"  Califbrny"  tickets  for  sale — he  was  willing  to  give  one  half  and 
would  run  all  the  risk  !  The  newspaper  account  thus  ends :  "  That 
chap  is  now  in  Panama,  and  sails  hence  lor  San  Francisco,  in  the 
'Oregon.'  We  rather  'guess'  he  will  find  a  prospect  in  Cali- 
fornia !" 

There  are  ten  steamers  now  anxiously  expected  here  that  are 
coming  round  the  Horn,  or  through  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  one 
of  which  is  a  river  steamer,  called  the  "  New  World,"  intended 
to  run  on  the  Sacramento  River.  This  is  the  second  river  steamer 
that  has  ever  been  sent  round. 

I  must  repeat  a  tough  story  that  is  now  in  circulation  relative  to 
the  natives  and  their  unsophisticated  simplicity.  A  number  of 
kegs  of  gunpowder,  it  is  asserted,  were  placed  upon  the  backs  of 
the  "  men-mules"  (who  would  be,  were  it  not  for  the  opposition- 
trains  of  their  less  numerous  four-footed  rivals,  in  almost  the  posi- 
tion of  the  camel — the  ship  of  the  desert),  for  transport  across  the 
isthmus,  with  the  strictest  reiterated  directions  that  they  should  be 
kept  perfectly  dry ;  but  unfortunately  a  most  violent  shower  of 
rain  overtook  them  before  they  got  half-way  across.  The  powder 
they  had  much  reason  to  fear,  had  become  wetted  by  the  super- 
abundant fluid. 

In  this  predicament  they  kindled  a  good  fire,  and  an  attempt 
•was  instantaneously  made  to  dry  the  combustible  compound  of 
saltpetre  and  brimstone ;  when,  alack  !  it  ignited,  exploded,  and 
went  off  like  a  tremendous  sky-rocket,  shaking  the  ground,  and 
blowing  the  unhappy  Indians  into  the  air,  and  shivering  them  into 
twenty  thousand  pieces. 

I  have  said  that  the  Government  of  New  Granada  seems  one 
of  a  really  liberal  character  ;  and  the  news  lately  arrived  from 


GOVERNMENT  OF  NEW  GRANADA.  359 

Bogota  would  seem  to  corroborate  that  statement.  The  Secretary 
of  State  has  just  presented  a  law  to  establish  immediately  the 
freedom  of  the  press.  The  ministers,  I  see,  have  lately  presented 
a  projected  law  for  the  decentralization  of  the  financial  adminis- 
tration of  the  Granadian  Republic.  This  seems  a  hazardous  ex- 
periment ;  for  if  it  receives  the  national  sanction,  it  will  doubtlessly 
tend  to  weaken  much  the  Federal  System  here. 

If  each  of  these  provinces  (as  they  are  called)  has  the  manage- 
ment of  its  own  financial  affairs,  the  political  power  of  the  country 
will  most  likely  fall  into  anarchy.  This  country  requires,  I  should 
think,  as  much  consolidation  as  possible  ;  and  any  thing  that  tends  • 
to  overthrow  the  unity  of  government  would  materially  injure  its 
prosperity. 

They  have  a  Vice-President  here,  after  the  example  of  the 
United  States,  and  his  election,  by  late  accounts,  was  just  about  to 
take  place.  General  Obando  is  the  new  "  Designado."  If  the 
President  and  Vice-President  both  should  die,  the  "  Designado"  at 
once  assumes  the  supreme  power  of  the  government,  and  is  imme- 
diately recognized  as  the  head  of  the  nation.  In  short,  he  is 
another  edition  of  the  Vice-President,  a  second  "  en  cas  ;"  so  that 
New  Granadians  would  seem  to  be  very  careful  not  to  have  a 
chance  of  being  left  without  a  supreme  governor  for  a  moment. 
They  must,  I  suppose,  be  aware  that  they  are  terribly  flighty 
mice,  and  sure  to  play  when  the  cat  is  away,  since  they  seem 
so  anxious  to  provide  a  number  of  "  deputy-provisionary-vice-sub- 
supernumeraries. ' ' 


CHAPTER   XLV. 

Arrival  at  Lima  announced — Embark  on  the  "  Bolivia" — View  of  Panama 
from  the  Sea — Buenaventura — The  River  and  City  of  Guayaquil — Horses' 
Dread  of  Alligators — Native  Boats  and  their  varied  Freight — Parrots, 
Macaws,  and  Paroquets — Ponchos — The  Guayaquil  Ladies — Grass  Hats 
— The  five  Productions  of  Guayaquil — Payta — Its  Population — Its  Salu- 
brity— Its  Market — Scarcity  of  Water  at  Payta — Former  Wealth  of  that 
Place. 

WE  arrived  at  Lima  in  perfect  safety  a  few  days  ago.  I  should 
not  at  all  repent  of  the  resolution  I  had  taken  to  come  here,  were 
it  not  that  I  shall  thus  be  longer  without  my  English  letters,  which 
will  be  awaiting  me  at  Jamaica. 

I  must  console  myself  by  thinking  I  am  on  my  way  home,  though 
by  a  rather  lengthened  circumbendibus  !  I  was  so  afraid  of  miss- 
ing my  letters  altogether,  if  I  attempted  to  arrange  for  them  to 
follow  me,  that  I  preferred  the  chance  of  their  accumulating,  and 
waiting  for  me  at  some  given  spot ;  and  besides,  I  originally  cal- 
culated on  being  at  Jamaica  long  before  this :  it  is  very  difficult 
to  arrange  satisfactorily  about  letters  at  such  a  distance. 

The  sea  voyage  hither  has  done  us  an  immensity  of  good,  and 
also  the  delicious  climate  of  Lima.  We  suffered  terribly  from  the 
intense  heat,  however,  during  part  of  our  voyage ;  but  I  have 
now  got  rid  of  the  remains  of  that  hay-asthma,  which  incapacitated 
me  so  much  from  going  about  for  nearly  a  fortnight  at  Panama. 

We  hear  that  the  cholera,  which  is  said  never  to  have  passed 
the  Equator,  is  now  within  three  leagues  of  Bogota,  and  apparently 
gradually  creeping  on.  The  people  here  say  it  will  stop  at  the 
Line — nous  verrons .' 

The  morning  we  left  Panama  was  not  very  hot,  fortunately  for 
us,  for  of  course  we  had  to  walk  to  the  beach  (at  about  the  hottest 
time  of  the  day,  too),  as  it  was  the  only  way  of  getting  there,  un- 
less we  had  ridden  on  rnules,  which  was  not  worth  while,  or  gone 
in  the  famous  hand-cart.  Behold  us,  then,  on  our  sultry  way,  after 
having  taken  leave  of  our  lovely  and  amiable  young  hostess,  escort- 
ed by  our  thrice  hospitable  host,  and  with  Pio  (not  "  Nono,"  the 
Pope,  unless  again  in  disguise,  but  that  secular  individual  who 
filled  the  office  of  head-mozo  in  the  Consular  establishment)  super- 
intending the  safe  conveyance  of  our  luggage,  carried  by  peons. 
We  were  introduced  to  the  captain  of  the  "  Bolivia"  on  the  shore, 


VIEW  OF  PANAMA  FROM  THE  SEA.  361 

who  subsequently  very  obligingly  made  every  possible  arrangement 
for  our  comfort  and  accommodation  on  board  the  steamer,  and  we 
were  soon  rapidly  gliding  along  toward  the  vessel  among  the  snow- 
white  pelicans. 

When  we  got  pretty  near  the  English  steamer,  we  saw  a  boat 
alongside,  from  which  people  were,  it  seemed  to  us,  ineffectually 
attempting  to  raise  some  huge  dark  object  into  the  steamer.  This 
was  an  immense  bullock,  which  we  for  some  time  thought  was 
dead,  but  after  awhile  he  showed  that  he  was  very  alive,  kicking 
and  struggling  tremendously :  he  floundered  about,  half  in  the 
water,  it  seemed,  more  like  a  young  whale  on  four  legs  than  a  re- 
spectable land  animal,  accustomed  to  the  progress  of  civilization, 
and  the  society  of  domesticated  cattle,  and  about  to  be  devoted  to 
the  service  of  some  of  his  cousins  and  namesakes.  At  last  the 
poor  bull  was  hoisted  into  the  vessel  in  safety. 

The  view  of  Panama  from  the  sea  is  lovely.  When  we  had 
steamed  along  about  an  hour,  we  came  to  Taboga,  after  passing 
several  other  hilly  and  volcanic-looking  islands.  Taboga  is  very 
lovely.  Down  to  the  beach  grow  the  rich  groves  of  orange  and  of 
tamarind.  Besjde  a  clump  of  cocoa-nut  palms  is  the  town,  shel- 
tered and  shaded ;  and  the  hills  rise,  as  they  so  often  do  in  these 
delightful  regions,  in  a  beauteous  semicircular  amphitheatre  of 
natural  terraces,  enriched  with  the  most  exquisite  vegetation  to 
their  summits.  Some  of  them  may  be  about  one  thousand  feet 
high.  Various  species  of  palm,  and  banana,  and  lemon,  and  orange, 
and  tamarind  trees  cover  the  ground  in  a  thick  mass,  till,  on  the 
beach,  they  almost  dip  into  the  water. 

It  is  said — I  know  not  with  what  accuracy — that  this  is  the 
only  place  between  Cape  Horn  and  San  Francisco,  where  a  dry 
dock  is  practicable,  and  that  here  it  would  be  very  easy  to  construct 
one.  The  Indian  houses  here  seem  to  be  thatched  with  grass,  and 
there  is  a  curious  fashion  of  arranging  gourds  on  the  roof,  divided 
in  two,  to  preserve  them  from  rain. 

At  dinner,  we  met  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Campbell,  and  a  sister,  I 
think,  of  that  lady's.  Besides  us  the  two  latter  "were  the  only 
ladies  on  board.  Mr.  Campbell  is  the  chief  superintendent  of  the 
American  engineer  corps  for  the  projected  Chilian  railroad.  He 
was  accompanied  by  two  resident  engineers,  and  several  first-as- 
sikants ;  and  there  are  a  number,  besides,  of  artisans  and  sub- 
assistants. 

The  chief  engineer  of  the  Anglo- Peruvian  railroad  was  also  on 
board,  with  a  considerable  band  of  associates  and  assistants.  Tho 

Q 


362  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

first  place  we  stopped  at  was  Buenaventura,  which  was  a  miser- 
able-looking town.  Whether  it  had  ever  seen  better  days  in  the 
time  of  the  Spanish  dominion,  and  has  become  impoverished  and 
half  depopulated  since,  I  know  not.  The  coast  was  rugged  and 
bold,  but  nobly  wooded. 

Buenaventura  is  the  port  of  Bogota,  on  the  Pacific.  Those 
who  go  by  this  route  to  the  capital,  generally  follow  the  course  of 
the  river  Cauca  to  Cartago,  from  whence  they  ride  along  a  dread- 
ful road  to  Bogota.  The  time  occupied  altogether  by  this  journey 
is  usually  about  three  weeks.  The  country,  we  were  told,  is 
splendid.  The  Atlantic  and  Pacific  are  thought  to  be  connected 
through  a  communication  between  the  Cauca  and  the  Magdelena. 

From  Buenaventura  we  proceeded  to  Guayaquil.  Soon  after 
crossing  the  Line  we  found  the  heat  intense,  and  so  it  continued 
till  we  got  near  Callao.  We  were  much  amused  by  one  of  our 
fellow-travelers  in  the  morning  rushing  into  the  cabin  to  know 
•whether  we  would  not  go  on  deck  to  see  the'  Line,  as  we  were 
very  near  it. 

Before  entering  the  Guayaquil  river  Mre  passed  the  singular 
rock  called  by  the  English  Dead  Man's  Island  ;  by  the  Equador- 
ians,  El  Enamortajado  (corpse).  We  thought  it  looked  very 
much  like  a  gigantic  fossilized  Egyptian  mummy  ;  a  most  colossal 
corpse  laid  in  state  on  its  boundless  ocean  bed,  with  its  face  up- 
turned to  the  everlasting  sun  and  stars.  Noble  sepulchral  lamps, 
indeed  ! 

There  is  a  story  in  reference  to  its  sombre  designation  of  terror, 
of  some  men  having  been  forgotten  there  and  left  to  perish  during 
a  Guayaquil  Pronunciamiento ;  but  its  extraordinary  formation  is 
sufficient  to  account  for  its  melancholy  name.  After  that  we 
passed  a  large  island  called  Puna. 

The  river  of  Guayaquil  is  a  noble,  deep,  large  stream.  While 
•we  were  ascending  it  we  felt  almost  sufibcated  with  the  heat, 
which  was  terribly  oppressive.  Guayaquil  is  eighty-five  miles 
from  the  mouth  of  the  river.  When  the  heat  of  the  fcun  moder- 
ated, we  went  on  deck. 

I  thought  some  of  the  scenery  on  the  banks  lovely ;  in  many 
parts  they  appeared  to  rne  to  assume  a  particularly  park-like 
aspect,  with  charming  openings  between  the  groups  of  trees,  that 
made  one  long  to  land  and  explore  a  little  there — please  the  mus- 
quitoes. 

We  tried  in  vain  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  grand  old  kingly  Chim- 
borazo  and  the  great  Cotopaxi.  There  was^a  floating  canopy  of 


CITY  OF  GUAYAQUIL.  363 

clouds  to  be  seen,  and  that  was  all.  Before  we  reached  the  river 
there  suddenly  came  on  thousands  of  bright,  beautiful  flashes  of 
lightning,  like  winged  suns  darting  about  with  bewildering  rapid- 
ity— most  exquisite  meteorological  pyrotechnics  they  were — and 
with  their  dazzling  reflections  they  sometimes  almost  made  the 
Pacific  one  sheet  of  flame.  The  southern  constellations — and  con- 
spicuously beautiful  and  interesting  among  them  the  Cross — look- 
ed magnificent  when  the  lightning  partially  ceased. 

At  length  we  arrived  at  the  town  of  Guayaquil,  the  chief  sea- 
port of  Ecuador.  There  has  been  a  serious  rebellion  going  on 
(and  that  is  strange,  for  one  really  wonders  how  they  can  go  on 
with  their  petty  revoltings  and  revolutionizings  without  laughing), 
and  the  city  is  actually  in  the  hands  of  the  wrong  man,  whoever 
that  may  be.  I  heard  his  name  but  forget  it,  which  is  as  well, 
for  he  may  very  likely  be  the  right  ^man  by  this  time.  There 
were  no  signs  of  any  thing  being  altered  or  disordered  in  any  way 
by  this  pronunciamientical  state  of  things. 

These  outbreaks  seem  a  part  of  the  constitutions  of  these  new 
Southern  republics  generally.  "  Sweet  chasing  sweet,  joy  over- 
taking joy."  I  am  told  that  in  Peru,  the  election  for  the  Presi- 
dent regularly  produces  one,  or  rather  is  one.  Law  and  order  are 
entirely  set  at  defiance  ;  rebellions  and  massacres  are  then  merely 
pardonable  ebullitions  of  enthusiasm  and  patriotism,  and  are  quite 
amicably  committed,  and,  as  the  Frenchman  said  when  he  killed 
his  wife,  innocently  done  in  a  petit  moment  de  vivacite.  In  short, 
revolution  seems  almost  the  normal  state  of  things.  No  wonder 
Guayaquil  looked  so  gay  and  contented. 

I  know  not  whether  there  was  any  extra  lighting  of  the  town 
to  express  their  joy  at  being  in  such  delightful  circumstances  ;  but 
I  must  say,  I  have  seldom  beheld  a  more  magnificently-illumina- 
ted city  than  Guayaquil.  As  you  ascend  the  river  the  town  is  on 
the  left-hand  side  ;  broad  quays  of  immense  length,  and  splendidly 
lit-up  at  night,  adorn  the  city  greatly,  besides  being  eminently 
useful  to  the  shipping  ;  for,  when  moored  to  the  rings  upon  the 
wharf,  vessels  of  very  considerable  size  may  remain  alongside  of 
them  without  touching  the  ground. 

There  are  said  to  be  immense  numbers  of  very  large  alligators 
some  miles  above  the  town.  They  occasionally  overset  acciden- 
tally the  slight  and  fragile  canoes  of  the  Indians,  who  bring  in 
these  boats  to  the  Guayaquil  market  fruit  and  vegetables  (among 
which  are  enormous  numbers  of  splendid  pine-apples) ;  then  woe 
to  the  poor  boatman  !  for  the  moment  the  alligator  sees  him  in 


3C4  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

the  water,  he  seizes  upon  him,  and  his  repast  is  too  soon  an  accom- 
plished fact. 

They  say  the  horses  and  cattle  are  afraid  of  going  to  the  river 
to  drink,  and  often  make  use  of  different  stratagems  to  avoid  this 
ferocious  enemy ;  but,  if  they  unsuspiciously  come  and  stoop  down 
to  drink,  the  alligator,  till  then  concealed,  or  nearly  so,  darts  at 
the  head  of  the  poor  animal,  insultingly  pulls  his  nose,  and  drags 
him  quickly  down,  depriving  him  of  all  power  of  motion  by  a  blow 
from  his  terrible  tail.  The  common  belief  in  the  complete  im- 
penetrability of  an  alligator's  natural  coat  of  mail  is  now  some- 
times disputed  ;  though  there  is  no  doubt  that  he  is  provided  with 
very  excellent  armor. 

Guayaquil  appeared  to  me  an  exceedingly  picturesque  town. 
The  balconied  and  veranda-surrounded  houses  have  a  particular- 
ly pretty  effect,  especially  in  the  brilliant  illumination  that  I  have 
described.  Guayaquil  looked  all  alive  ;  but  we  saw  no  symptoms 
of  anarchy  ;  numerous  promenaders  seemed  enjoying  the  beauty  of 
the  evening. 

It  is  curious  that  here,  within  two  degrees  of  the  equator,  the 
ladies  are  remarkably  fair,  and,  indeed,  have  almost  Anglo-Saxon 
complexions.  They  are  celebrated  for  their  beauty ;  and  former- 
ly, I  believe,  in  the  Spanish  days,  there  were  many  very  distin- 
guished families  residing  here,  possessed  of  enormous  wealth. 

In  the  morning  we  beheld  a  very  gay  and  busy  scene  :  the 
steamer  was  literally  surrounded  with  native  boats  of  all  shapes 
and  sizes,  some  filled  to  overflowing  with  almost  innumerable  par- 
rots,  macaws,  and  paroquets ;  pine  apples  and  various  tropical 
fruits  in  others,  piled  in  perfect  pyramids  and  mounds ;  and  the 
noise  was  nearly  deafening.  Every  parrot  strained  its  harsh  voice 
to  the  utmost,  and  seemed  in  the  greatest  possible  rage  and 
fury.  Was  there  a  revolution  among  the  ornithological  population 
of  the  republic,  as  well  as  among  the  human  ?  Was  this  a  par- 
rot-and-paroquet  pronunciamiento  ?  No  ;  they  were  too  sensible 
— they  only  objected,  perhaps  instinctively,  to  a  sea-voyage.  But 
what  a  noise  they  made  !  Talk  of  people  being  deafened  by  artil- 
lery in  a  battle,  indeed !  the  sharp  edge  of  these  piercing  sounds 
seemed  to  cut  through  and  through  the  tympanum  like  knives. 
'  The  little  paroquets  (some  were  lovely  tiny  creatures,  with 
white  rings  round  their  necks,  and  the  most  charming  little  tur- 
quoise-blue heads  conceivable)  repeated  incessantly,  "Perroquito 
chiquito,  blanquito  bonito ;"  and  the  macaws  reiterated,  in  their 
hoarse,  guttural  manner,  "  Tocar  la  pata,"  or  something  like  that, 


PONCHOS.  365 


in  the  hubbub.  /The  poor  birds  seemed  fit  for  Bedlam  at  last,  for 
none  appeared  to  like  to  give  in,  and  the  clatter  seemed  to  increase. 
If  the  natives  wished  to  find  purchasers,  surely  they  should  have 
gagged  these  ear-splitting  creatures. 

For  a  moment  a  terrible  idea  floated  over  my  horror-stricken 
imagination.  Was  it  possible  the  living  contents  of  these  canoes 
would  be  transferred  to  the  good  steamer  "Bolivia?"  But  no;  most 
of  the  passengers  must  have  had  a  surfeit  of  parrot-talking  forever. 
If  there  were  any  amiable  English  visitors  on  board,  politically  in- 
clined, and  ambitious  of  a  seat  in  Britain's  Parliament,  I  have 
good  reason  to  think  that  morning's  trial  and  torment  has  caused 
them  to  change  their  minds  ;  and  if  any  of  them  should  have  been 
elected  (as  I  arn  told  a  gentleman  lately  was)  in  their  absence, 
they  will  probably  take  an  early  opportunity  of  accepting  the 
Chiltern  Hundreds. 

Extraordinary  as  it  may  appear,  a  few  of  the  shrieking  chatter- 
boxes were  bought.  One  little  blue-headed  beauty  became  a  great 

favorite  with  V ;  but  whether,  as  some  thought,  the  poor 

little  thing  had  been  injured,  or  whether  it  never  recovered  its  own 
small  share  in  the  animated  debate  I  have  spoken  of,  I  know  not ; 
but  it  died  very  soon. 

The  Captain  sent  me  some  splendid  ponchos  to  look  at,  which 
were  of  very  brilliant  colors,  and  exquisite  materials.  They  were 
made  by  the  Indian  women ;  and  they  say  these  fine  and  beauti- 
fully-finished ones  take  a  great  deal  of  time,  and  a  considerable 
amount  of  labor.  They  were  fringed  and  embroidered,  and  ap- 
peared to  be  of  rich  silk ;  but  I  believe  were  formed  entirely  of 
the  wool  of  the  Vicuna. 

I  am  constrained  to  confess,  Guayaquil  is  rather  a  candle-light 
beauty ;  not  so,  it  seems,  are  the  Guayaquilenas,  with  their  deli- 
cate complexions  and  masses  of  magnificent  hair  and  miniatures 
of  feet — Cinderella's  glass-slipper  would  not  have  fitted  many  of 
these  South  American  ladies,  for  it  would  have  been  much  too 
large.  The  Guayaquil  grass  hats  are  very  famous  :  they  vary  in 
price  from  three  to  fifty  dollars  :  they  are  extraordinarily  durable, 
and  the  best  require  great  care  and  attention  in  choosing  the 
peculiar  grass  of  which  they  are  made,  and  subsequently  in  pre- 
paring it ;  which  accounts  for  the  apparently  extravagant  price 
asked  for  those  of  superior  manufacture. 

Ecuador,  in  which  this  grass  grows,  I  believe,  prohibits  its  ex- 
portation. The  most  delicate  of  these  hats  can  only  be  worked 
upon,  it  is  said,  in  a  particular  state  of  the  atmosphere,  which  re- 


366  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

stricts  the  hours  of  labor  upon  it  (without  any  interference  of  our 
benevolent  Lord  Ashley)  to  a  limited  number  during  the  day,  con- 
sequently a  very  perfect  and  superfine  hat  occupies  whole  months 
in  preparation.  Of  course,  the  only  genuine  ones  are  made  at  the 
place  whence  the  hats  take  their  name  ;  but  large  numbers  of 
a  very  tolerably  successful  imitation,  though  decidedly  inferior,  are 
manufactured  in  the  province  of  Piura  in  Peru,  and  exported 
from  Payta. 

Gay  and  brilliant  as  revolutionized  Guayaquil  looked,  we  were 
not  sorry  to  leave  it;  for  the  heat  and  the  musquitoes  were  alto- 
gether almost  insupportable.  We  bade  farewell  at  last  to  the 
town,  and  started,  carrying  off  from  those  thick-thronging  boats 
full  of  pine-apples  and  paroquets,  quite  a  mountain  of  the  former, 
which  are  certainly  rnarvelously  excellent  at  that  place ;  they  are 
very  large  and  juicy,  and  of  most  exquisite  flavor,  and  the  inside 
is  of  a  snowy  whiteness. 

We  had  some  Guayaquil  beef  at  dinner,  which  was  exceedingly 
good  ;  so  that  five  productions  of  Guayaquil  seem  to  be  superlative- 
ly fine — beef,  hats,  pine-apples,  ladies,  and  paroquets. 

How  we  longed,  as  we  steamed  down  the  river — whose  heated 
banks  seemed  steaming  in  emulation — to  breathe  the  fresh  air  of 
the  ocean  !  Still  the  pretty  scenery  of  parts  of  the  river  kept  us 
at  the  cabin  windows,  though  the  closeness  of  the  atmosphere  did 
not  allow  us  to  dream  even  that  we  were  inhaling  that  luxury 
called  air. 

At  length  we  were  once  more  on  the  glorious  Pacific,  on  our 
way  to  Payta.  Chimborazo  and  Cotopaxi,  were  neither  of  them 
visible ;  but  the  ocean  looked  as  beautiful  as  it  possibly  could,  to 
-console  us  a  little  for  the  disappointment. 

Payta  is  an  extraordinary  place  indeed — a  sterile,  treeless,  water- 
less desert.  It  is  the  port  of  Piura,  the  chief  town  of  the  province  ; 
which  large  town  is  distant  about  forty  miles  in  the  interior,  and 
is  the  first  city  built  by  Pizarro,  when  he  conquered  the  province. 
It  is  said  to  contain  about  12,000  inhabitants.  The  population, 
of  Payta  amounts  to  about  4000. 

The  bay  on  which  it  is  built,  if  I  am  correctly  informed,  affords 
the  only  secure  anchorage  on  this  part  of  the  coast.  It  is  difficult 
to  imagine  any  thing  more  dreary,  wild,  and  inhospitable-looking 
than  this  bleak,  arid  place. 

The  houses,  with  their  high,  thatched  roofs,  stand  under  a  bar- 
ren range  of  yellow,  bilious-looking  sand-hills,  that  seem  afflicted 
with  a  perpetual  jaundice  :  there  is  neither  tuft  nor  sprig,  nor 


SALUBRITY  OF  PAYTA.  367 

leaf  nor  blade  of  vegetation  visible.  Most  of  the  houses  are  con- 
structed of  the  bamboo,  either  slightly  filled  in  with  clay,  or  inter- 
mixed with  a  few  strips  and  shreds  of  hide,  and  the  principal  ones 
are  coated  with  mud  inside  and  outside,  and  whitewashed :  the 
habitations  of  the  Indians,  like  those  on  the  Isthmus,  are  mere 
cages  of  cane.  It  is  like  dwelling  in  a  Brobdignagian  wicker-basket 
turned  topsy-turvy,  and  with  an  immense  extinguisher-like  thatched 
roof,  in  place  of  the  bottom  of  the  basket. 

Dreary  and  melancholy  as  its  appearance  is,  the  situation  of 
this  town  is  said  to  be  particularly  salubrious  :  the  Indians  live  to 
an  exceedingly  advanced  age  here.  The  profession  of  the  healing 
art  has  a  very  bad  chance  at  Payta  :  a  barber  and  a  painter  are  said 
to  have  followed  the  medical  line  here,  arid  undertaken  to  attempt 
to  kill  off  a  few  of  those  long-lived  individuals,  but  unsuccessfully: 
draughts  could  not  destroy  them — pills  could  not  poison  them. 

Before  the  yoke  of  Spain  was  thrown  off,  there  was  a  very  con- 
siderable overland  commerce  from  the  Atlantic  coast  to  Panama, 
on  the  Pacific  :  the  richly-freighted  argosies,  heavy  with  gold  and 
treasure,  always  put  into  Payta,  on  their  way  to  and  from  Callao 
— strange  as  it  may  seem — for  water,  as  well  as  provisions.  Pro- 
visions and  water  are  brought  from  the  interior,  and  the  latter 
from  some  distance,  for  there  is  not  a  single  drop  of  fresh  drinking 
water  within  six  leagues  of  the  place  :  as  a  shower  of  rain  only 
falls  about  once  in  three  or  four  years,  the  inhabitants  are  entirely 
dependent  upon  a  river  six  leagues  off,  for  that  essential  necessary 
of  life.  Regularly  every  morning  come  in,  laden  with  water- 
barrels,  mules  and  donkeys,  which  also  bring  into  the  town  abund- 
ant supplies  of  vegetables  and  meat. 

These  two  last  are  very  reasonable  in  price,  but  the  water  is 
extremely  dear.  The  natives  say,  in  Payta  it  is  far  more  econom- 
ical to  drink  wine  ;  therefore,  no  doubt  they  do — whenever  they 
can  get  it.  Let  not  Father  Mathew,  or  any  other  preacher  of 
teetotalism  come  here,  for  Nature  herself  seems  to  oppose  their 
principle  in  this  thirsty  place. 

The  poor  mules  and  donkeys  who  bring  the  precious  liquid,  and 
the  various  articles  of  consumption  to  the  town,  are  rarely  allowed 
to  taste  a  drop  of  water  until  they  return  to  the  above-mentioned 
river,  and  they  are,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  driven  back 
into  the  interior  the  same  night.  The  musquito,  who,  alas  !  is 
not  a  water-drinker  (would  that  Father  Mathew  could  make  him 
one  !),  and  the  common  house-fly,  are  the  only  creatures  of  the 
insect  tribe  to  be  found  in  this  place  :  no  reptile  exists  there. 


368  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

The  very  dogs,  during  the  oppressive  heats,  have  been  frequently 
known  to  migrate  to  the  banks  of  the  "  abounding  river,"  that 
they  might  satisfy  their  raging  thirst  in  peace,  thus  deserting  their 
masters. 

The  market  is  very  well  supplied,  on  the  whole,  I  am  informed  : 
bananas,  plantains,  figs,  pomegranates,  cherimoyas,  aguacates 
(which  fruit  has  several  aliases,  though  it  seems  a  respectable  sort 
of  natural  production  enough — they  are  sometimes  called  "  avoca- 
dos" and  "  alligator"  pears ;  the  last  is  sufficiently  absurd,  for  it 
neither  resembles  a  pear,  nor  an  alligator),*  tomatoes,  sweet-pota- 
toes, and  other  tropical  fruits  and  vegetables,  are  plentiful  and 
excellent.  Besides  they  have  poultry,  and  beef,  and  mutton. 

The  Indian  women  who  assemble  in  the  morning  in  the  market- 
place to  sell  provisions,  have  not  forsaken  their  old  national  cos- 
tume, such  as  their  ancestresses  appeared  in,  in  the  days  of  "  the 
Children  of  the  Sun" — the  Incas  of  Peru,  for  which  I  honor  them 
greatly.  This  costume  is  remarkably  simple,  consisting  chiefly  of 
a  large,  flowing,  black  dress,  with  very  wide,  loose  sleeves. 

The  exquisite  transparency  and  clearness,  as  well  as  the  dryness 
of  the  atmosphere  at  Payta,  are  very  remarkable ;  but  there  are 
no  rich  twining  plants  and  flowers  there  to  embroider  the  very  air 
with  their  high-fantastical,  and  delicate  vagaries :  all  is  sterile 
and  glaring. 

But,  however  dreary  and  unfruitful  the  vicinity  of  Payta  may 
be,  the  province  of  Piura  has  the  reputation  of  being  eminently 
fertile,  and  rich  in  many  productions,  animal,  mineral,  and  vege- 
table. Great  quantities  of  cotton  grown  there  are  among  the  ex- 
ports from  Payta.  It  also  exports  silver,  cattle,  goat-skins,  &c. 
The  cotton  generally  produces  two  crops  in  the  year,  and  grows 
to  the  size  of  a'tree.  It  is  of  an  extremely  good  quality. 

The  town  is  the  depot  still,  as  it  \vas  under  the  Spanish  rule, 
of  the  extensive  commerce  of  the  interior  of  North  Peru.  The 
best  Peruvian  bark  is  found  in  the  valleys  of  Loxa  in  the  northern 
part  of  Peru,  and  in  those  of  Hualaga  in  Bolivia. 

Some  little  time  ago  Payta  had  actually  been  totally  without 
rain  for  ten  years.  If  during  three  or  four  years  the  inhabitants 
are  blessed  with  a  few  precious  showers,  their  wild,  rugged  hills 
smile  with  delicate  verdure,  and  it  is  even  of  vast  pecuniary  ad- 
vantage to  Payta. 

There  are  the  marks  of  former  water-courses  leading  to  the  sea, 

*  In  Jamaica,  I  hear,  they  are  called  "subaltern's  butter." 


FORMER  WEALTH  OF  PAYTA.  369 

in  the  neighborhood,  now  completely  dry ;  but  the  traces  of  water 
having  once  flowed  there,  are  still,  travelers  say,  perfectly  plain 
and  visible  in  the  beds  of  the  now  empty  channels.  It  is  supposed 
— and  it  seems  with  much  reason — that  some  ancient  revolution 
and  convulsion  of  nature  either  diverted  the  course,  or  entirely  dried 
up  the  sources  of  these  former  torrents  ;  it  appears  no  tradition  ex- 
ists of  water  ever  having  been  heard  of  or  seen  much  nearer  to 
Payta  than  now. 

Some  of  the  best  houses  at  Payta  have  their  patios  covered  over 
with  awnings,  which  is  a  charming  plan  while  the  sun  is  in  his 
full  power ;  but  when  his  rays  decrease,  the  more  air  in  these  hot 
regions,  I  think,  the  better.  But  since  they  have  no  shade  outside 
their  houses  at  this  place,  they  appear  determined  to  have  all  they 
can  within  ! 

In  former  days,  I  believe,  the  old  Spanish  Viceroys  disembarked 
at  this  port  on  their  way  to  the  capital  of  Peru  !  which  journey  by 
land  might  be  accomplished  in  about  a  fortnight's  time. 

The  riches  of  this  placo  were  formerly  proverbial,  and  often, 
report  says,  tempted  the  cupidity  of  the  old  British  navigators. 
When  navigation  was  not  so  finished  a  science  as  it  is  now,  the 
beating  to  windward  from  Payta  and  from  Panama,  to  Callao  and 
to  Valparaiso,  was  said  to  be  inconceivably  slow  and  difficult. 

Near  the  coast  the  currents  and  winds  add  very  greatly  to  the 
length  of  the  voyages.  It  is  necessary  to  sail  out  to  sea,  to  meet 
the  wind  more  to  the  westward ;  under  which  circumstances,  a 
good  sailer  may  perform  the  voyage  from  Payta  to  Lima  in  a  fort- 
night or  twenty  days. 


CHAPTER    XLVL 

Cherimoyas — Lambayeque — The  Balsa — Its  Use — Numerous  Reptiles  and 
Insects  at  Larabayeque — Curious  Mound-tombs — Sepulchral  Curiosities 
found  in  them — Alleged  Imitation  of  them  in  Birmingham — Huanchaco — 
The  peremptory  Lady — Description  of  Callao— Its  Destruction  a.  Century 
ago — The  frozen  Apple. 

JUST  as  we  were  starting  from  Payta,  I  received  a  splendid 
basketful  of  cherimoyas  from  the  British  Consul.  I  was  not,  of 
course,  able  to  thank  him  lor  his  thoughtful  courtesy,  to  rny  great 
regret,  but  we  shall  stop  there  again  on  our  return. 

These  cherimoyas  were  exceedingly  fine,  and  they  are  so  popular 

Q* 


370  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

a  fruit  and  have  so  tempting  an  appearance,  that  I  am  quite  pro- 
voked with  myself  for  not  being  able  to  like  them  ;  but  such  is  the 
case,  nevertheless. 

Our  next  stoppage  was  at  Lambayeque,  where  there  seemed  to 
be  neither  port  nor  harbor  :  an  apparently  miserable  assemblage 
of  huts  and  hovels,  with  a  very  few  houses  of  higher  pretensions, 
stood  on  the  beach  :  this  is  the  landing-place  for  Lambayeque,  the 
town  itself  of  that  name  being  about  seven  miles  in  the  interior. 

The  little  village  on  the  beach  is  exposed  to  the  mighty  swell 
of  the  mile-long  waves  of  the  Pacific,  that  rise  far  away  at  sea 
into  huge  rolling  billows,  and  then  tower  into  foamy-crested  and 
mountainous  breakers,  which  plunge  down  on  the  trembling  shore, 
after  a  terrific  sweep,  in  surges  of  long-resounding  thunder. 

Here,  as  well  as  at  Payta,  they  make  use  of  that  singular  and 
useful  contrivance,  the  balsa,  which  is  a  large  pile  of  logs  of  some 
light  and  suitable  wood,  crossing  and  re-crossing  each  other  in 
layers,  and  very  strongly  lashed  together.  These  are  secure  even 
in  the  midst  of  the  mighty  waves  of  the  Pacific,  when  tremendous 
billows  and  sweeping  surges  beat  around  them,  and  vast  walls  and 
precipices  of  water  threaten,  as  they  roll  on  with  fearful  force,  to 
whelm  and  engulf  them.  If  by  any  accident  the  lashing  should 
give  way,  they  are  instantaneously  lost.  Of  course  there  are  times 
when  not  even  the  balsa  can  pass  the  formidable  breakers. 

Payta  is  warranted  to  be  free  from  reptiles  and  insects,  and  from 
all  accounts,  they  must  have  transferred  themselves  and  their 
always  large  families  to  Lambayeque,  which  is  said  to  swarm 
with  them.  There  is  one  creature,  called  the  salamanchaca,  the 
bite  of  which  is  described  as  being  extremely  venomous  and  dan- 
gerous. 

Near  Lambayeque,  it  is  stated,  there  are  several  of  those  curious 
mound-tombs  of  the  ancient  Peruvians,  in  which  are  ordinarily 
found  numbers  of  those  variously-shaped  hollow  vases  and  vessels 
denominated  "  huacos."  These  huacos  are  generally  formed  into 
uncouth  representations  of  human  beings,  animals  and  reptiles ; 
and  the  acts  and  occupations  of  ancient  Indian  life  are  shadowed 
forth  quaintly  on  them  very  frequently.  They  were  for  the  use  of 
the  departed. 

The  greater  part  of  them  are  constructed  of  a  black  earth ;  but 
some — no  doubt  from  the  tombs  of  their  chiefs — are  of  silver,  and 
even  of  gold.  Most  of  them  have  apertures,  which,  upon  applying 
the  lips  to  them  firmly,  and  blowing  into  them,  produce  a  whistling 
and  very  strange  sound.  It  is  also  said,  if  you  put  them  on  the 


SEPULCHRAL  CURIOSITIES.  371 

fire,  when  they  are  thoroughly  heated,  they  will  send  forth  a  sweet 
and  melodious  tone  ;  but  people  do  not  like  experimentalizing  thus 
on  them,  for  fear  the  poor  superannuated  musical-boxes  should 
break. 

It  is  necessary  to  be  very  careful  of  whom  you  purchase  these 
sepulchral  curiosities,  I  am  informed,  as  the  eager  demand  among 
travelers  and  visitors,  and  even  among  residents,  especially  those 
from  the  United  States  and  Europe,  for  these  archaeological  treas-  • 
ures  has  been  the  cause  of  their  being  pretty  successfully  imitated, 
it  is  rumored,  in  Birmingham,  that  toy-shop  of  two  worlds  !  (and 
which  appears  anxious  for  the  custom  of  the  Elysian  fields  to  boot). 
If  any  one  is  anxious  to  procure  the  real  article,  he  must  pay  a 
visit  to  the  old  burial  mounds,  or  depute  some  trustworthy  friend 
or  acquaintance  so  to  do. 

In  the  inland  town  of  Larnbayeque,  the  market  is  supplied,  I 
hear,  with  exquisite  white  grapes,  as  well  as  a  variety  of  other 
fruits.  A  curious  currency  appears  by  some  late  accounts  to  be  in 
use  at  Larnbayeque — no  other  than  eggs,  which  freely  circulate  as 
small  coin ;  not  a  pleasant  coin  to  put  in  your  pockets,  I  should 
think,  however  agreeable  that  operation  may  be  in  general. 

There,  as  in  other  places  in  Peru,  the  inhabitants  are  fond  of 
quaffing  a  refreshing  beverage,  called  chicha.  They  have  other 
contrivances,  I  believe,  besides  the  balsa*  for  passing  the  tremen- 
dous surf  of  the  Pacific  :  at  these  places  the  inflated  hides  of 
animals  are  used  for  this  purpose  frequently,  and  called  "  cavallos ;" 
but  I  fancy  this  requires  a  person  much  experienced  in  the 
practice. 

We  went  from  Larnbayeque  to  Huanchaco  :  the  coast  there 
was  very  wild  knd  rocky,  and  scarcely  a  trace  of  man's  habitation 
or  handiwork  was  to  be  seen  in  any  direction.  But  among  the 
bold,  rugged  rocks,  in  face  of  the  majesti?"  Pacific  Ocean,  rose, 
alone,  apparently,  shedding  a  heavenly  halo  over  the  great  solitude, 
a  little  Christian  church  !  This  being  elevated  on  a  peak  of  rock, 
was  visible  when  the  town  or  village  it  belonged  to  was  hidden. 

We  proceeded  from  thence  to  Casma,  which  I  thought  very 
charmingly  situated  ;  and  then,  after  a  short  delay,  came  on  to 
Callao.  At  one  of  the  intermediate  ports,  I  forget  which,  several 
Peruvian  ladies  came  on  board,  their  diminutive  feet  cluiussed 
with  the  prettiest  little  white  satin  boots  imaginable,  almost  large 
enough  for  an  English  doll !  Their  toilet  in  general  for  the  voy- 

*  Some  of  the  balsas  have  a  rough  mast,  supporting  a  square-sail. 


372  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

age  was  such  as  in  London  might  be  worn  at  a  matinee  mu&icale 
or  a  very  brilliant  breakfast  at  Chiswick,  or  perhaps  even  at  the 
Opera,  save  the  lovely  mantilla,  undulating  so  gracefully  over  their 
luxuriant  death-black  locks. 

I  saw  one  lady  who  came  in  one  of  the  native  boats  with  a 
great  many  rowers ;  she  was  superbly  dressed,  and  appeared  to  be 
a  person  of  great  distinction  there  ;  she  was  excessively  indignant 
at  the  difficulties  that  presented  themselves  in  the  way  of  her 
getting  on  board  the  steamer :  the  unfortunate  craft  she  was  in 
was  plunged  and  tossed  about  like  a  shuttlecock  in  convulsions  by 
the  restless  waves ;  but  she  scolded  the  boatmen  in  the  most 
stentorian  of  tones,  and  stamped  her  little  Liliputian  white  satin 
foot  in  a  perfect  fury.  They  seemed  to  be  straining  every  nerve 
to  obey  her  reiterated  and  imperious  directions,  but  in  vain  ;  and 
she  grew  more  and  more  angry  with  them.  She  completely 
ignored  the  sweeping  Pacific,  apparently  resolved  to  consider  the 
stupidity  of  the  boatmen  the  sole  and  single  cause  of  her  not  reach- 
ing the  deck  of  the  "  Bolivia"  immediately.  Supported  by  two 
retainers,  for  she  chose  to  stand  up,  she  continued  to  give  her 
commands  more  and  more  peremptorily  :  what  a  Lady  of  the  Lake, 
or  the  Ocean,  was  she !  They  made  a  desperate  attempt ;  and 
the  bounding  canoe  shot  up  against  us  with  terrific  force.  I  ex- 
pected with  horror  to  see  canoe,  boatmen,  and  lady  all  struggling 
in  the  waves  ;  but  no — the  little  white  satin  feet  were  at  last  seen 
triumphantly  rushing  up  the  ladder  as  if  they  had  been  seven- 
leagued  boots,  instead  of  those  baby-shoes !  The  old  blood  of 
Castile  and  Leon  must  have  stirred  in  that  little  form  :  she  looked 
as  if  she  would  have  commanded  the  very  elements. 

We  arrived  at  Callao  at  last,  and  one  of  the  first  sights  that 
struck  onr  eyes  was  an  English  man-of-war,  the  "Dredalus,"  the 
ship  from  whence  tHb  supposed  sea-serpent  was  seen,  some  time 

ago.     Since  that  she  has  been  re-commissioned.     Captain  W 

came  on  board  the  steamer,  and  was  good  enough  to  ofier  to  take 
us  on  shore  in  his  boat. 

We  accordingly  proceeded  to  Callao  with  him  in  a  beautiful 
boat,  shortly  after.  In  the  harbor  were  great  numbers  of  mer- 
chant-ships— American,  Peruvian,  and  English.  I  must  not  omit 
to  mention  that  the  boats  of  the  "  Daedalus"  are  adorned  with  a 
representation  of  the  sea-serpent,  in  memory  of  that  extraordinary 
apparition. 

Callao  is  the  principal  sea-port  of  Peru.  On  entering  its  harbor, 
you  have,  on  the  right  hand,  to  the  south,  the  steepy  island  of  San 


CALLAO.  373 

• _ . 

Lorenzo,  bare  and  rugged,  without  a  leaf  or  blade  on  it.  In  front 
are  the  white  houses  of  Callao,  and  its  mouldering,  but  noble 
castles  ;  and  beyond  spreads  the  verdant  plain,  toward  a  crescent- 
shaped  range  of  bleak  and  frowning  hills,  which  inclose  this  valley 
of  Lurigancho,  through  which  runs  the  beautiful  river  Rimac. 

Beyond  this  fertile  and  smiling  valley,  to  the  left  of  Callao,  and 
at  the  foot  of  the  swelling  mountains,  rise  the  majestic  spires  and 
domes  of  Lima,  the  City  of  the  Kings,  as  it  was  called  in  past 
times,  "  La  Ciudad  de  los  Reyes"  (it  is  sometimes  now  designated 
as  "  El  Cielo  de  los  Mugeres,  el  Purgatorio  de  los  Hombres,  y  el 
Infierno  de  los  Burros").  Above  all  tower  in  their  ineffable 
sublimity,  the  summits  of  the  stupendous  Andes,  whose  cloud- 
capped,  snow-crested  peak's  are  awfully  magnificent. 

Callao  is  about  six  or  seven  miles  from  Lima.  It  is  a  consider 
able  town  in  itself.  Many  foreign  merchants  reside  there ;  and 
on  all  sides  you  see  large  flourishing-looking  warehouses  and  stores. 
At  Callao  the  anchorage  is  very  good,  and  the  waters  of  the  bay 
are  rarely  visited  by  a  stormy  breeze.  There  is  a  very  good  land- 
ing, at  an  extremely-handsome  mole  of  stone,  which  is  inclosed  by 
a  substantial  iron  railing.  All  is  life,  bustle,  and  activity  around 
you. 

Captain  W drew  my  attention  to  many  enormous  heaps  of 

corn  piled  up  in  the  open  air,  and  told  me  they  left  them  there 
exposed  always  to  the  weather,  during  every  change  of  the  seasons ; 
so  dry  is  the  climate,  and  so  remarkable  the  absence  of  rain. 
Great  numbers  of  Liliputian  donkeys  were  to  be  seen  in  all  direc- 
tions, engaged  in  transporting  vast  quantities  of  goods  to  the 
various  warehouses  and  stores.  A  great  many  rude  carts  and 
drays,  made  of  raw  hides,  also  went  busily  to  and  fro,  loaded 
heavily  with  different  articles  of  merchandise. 

In  addition  to  the  heaps  of  corn  and  fine  wheat  from  the  flourish- 
ing republic  of  Chili,  there  were  large  earthen,  picturesque-shaped 
jars,  of  an  alcoholic  spirit,  called  italia  (manufactured  at  Pisco,  a 
little  south  of  Callao,  and  said  to  be  very  popular  here) ;  blocks  of 
salt  brought  from  the  Sechura  mines,  and  iron  vessels  of  quick- 
silver used  in  the  mines  for  preparing  the  precious  metals.  The 
scene  was  altogether  novel,  interesting,  and  very  animated. 

Nearly  all  the  dwelling-houses  at  Callao  are  one-storied  struc- 
tures (the  safest  in  case  of  earthquakes)  :  they  are  generally  built 
of  adobes,  and  with  flat  roofs.  The  Old  Town  of  Callao  was 
completely  destroyed  by  the  terrible  earthquake  of  174G.  The 
ocean,  it  is  said,  then  receded  to  an  extraordinary  distance,  and 


374  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

returned  again,  as  if  with  increased  force  and  fury,  in  three  succes- 
sive mountainous  waves,  which  entirely  overwhelmed  the  unfortu- 
nate town.  One  man  only,  we  are  told,  survived  this  frightful 
destruction  out  of  a  population  of  three  thousand.  His  escape  was 
almost  miraculous. 

He  was  in  a  protected  situation,  in  a  bastion  of  the  fortress, 
looking  upon  the  ocean.  From  this  isolated  position,  he  beheld 
the  terrified  inhabitants  of  tho  town  hurry  from  their  endangered 
houses  with  breathless  precipitation,  in  the  utmost  agitation,  dis- 
order, and  alarm ;  but  ere  they  could  reach  any  place  of  greater 
security,  the  howling  waves  of  the  infuriate  ocean,  which  had  pre- 
viously retired  in  so  extraordinary  a  manner,  returned  with  the 
terrific  and  awful  violence  I  have  described,  and  its  tremendous 
surges  swalloAved  up  every  inhabitant  of  Callao,  except  the  trem- 
bling wretch  in  the  bastion  of  the  fortress. 

Though  Callao  is  now,  despite  its  size,  a  rather  insignificant- 
looking  place,  it  is  thought  by  some,  that  when  the  ancient  Spanish 
custom,  of  having  the  chief  towns  removed  from  the  ports,  shall 
yield  to  modern  notions  of  practical  utility  and  convenience,  the 
population  and  the  opulence  of  lama  will  gradually  find  their  way 
down  to  this  port ;  and  already  there  are  a  good  many  very  pretty 
and  well-built  houses  beginning  to  rear  their  loftier  fronts  among 
the  humble  dwellings  of  the  town. 

Captain  W was  good  enough  to  write  and  order  a  private 

conveyance  for  us  from  Lima,  instead  of  our  going  in  the  omnibus, 
which  was  very  full,  as  there  were  a  good  many  passengers  for  the 
"Kingly"  City.  We  stood  a  moment  at  the  door  of  the  house 
whence  the  omnibus  starts,  till  we  saw  our  luggage  arrive  safely, 
part  of  which  I  wished  to  send  on  by  that  conveyance. 

They  were  loading  the  omnibus,  and  an  unfortunate  negro  who 
was  standing  on  the  roof  of  the  vehicle,  pulling  at  a  rope,  to  fasten 
some  luggage  firmly  on  the  top,  lost  his  balance,  or  the  rope  gave 
way,  and  he  fell  back  down  into  the  street  with  great  violence. 
He  appeared  insensible,  and  his  head  seemed  much  cut.  He  was 
immediately  taken  up  and  carried,  apparently  with  great  care  and 
attention,  into  the  house. 

While  we  were  waiting  for  our  coclie,  we  were  invited  to  stay 

in  the  house  of  Mrs.  M ,  the  wife  of  an  eminent  English 

merchant  of  the  place,  who  resides  at  Callao.  It  was  an  exceed- 
ingly pretty  house ;  and  in  that,  and  the  house  of  the  agent  of  the 
British  Mail  Steamer  Company,  we  saw  carpets  for  the  first  time 
for  many  months — very  handsome  carpets  they  were  too,  from 


SITE  OF  OLD  CALLAO.  375 

England.  Mrs.  M invited  us  to  have  luncheon  with  her. 

This  consisted  almost  entirely  of  a  great  variety  of  exquisite  fruits, 
and  a  profusion  of  cakes. 

Among  other  fruits,  there  was  an  extraordinary  species  of  apple, 
called  here  the  frozen  apple.  On  cutting  it  in  half,  the  core,  and 
a  circular  portion  of  the  fruit  around  it,  are  like  a  lump  of  ice ; 
this  is  only  to  be  found,  we  are  told,  in  a  particular  kind  of  apple, 
hut  yet  not  all  the  fruits  of  this  separate  species  are  possessed  of 
this  peculiarity. 

Mrs. has  some  magnificent  old  inlaid  cabinets,  of  admir- 
able workmanship,  that  she  bought  at  Lima,  I  believe.  They 
reminded  me  of  some  I  saw  at  Sir  William  Parker's,  at  Malta, 
which  had  been  presented  to  him  by  the  present  Queen  of  Portu- 
gal. In  the  market-place  here,  under  temporary  booths,  we  are 
told,  are  stationed  numerous  venders  of  pina,  or  iced  pine-apple 
water,  ice  cream,  &c.,  and  of  fruits  almost  endless. 

At  length  our  conveyance  drew  up  to  the  entrance  of  Mrs. 

M 's  charming  mansion ;  and  with  much  gratitude  for  her 

kind  hospitality,  we  took  leave  of  her,  and  started  for  Lima. 


CHAPTER   XLVIL 

« 

Site  of  old  Callao — The  shouting  Inquirer — Approach  to  Lima — Absence  of 
Rain  at  that  City — The  graceful  Peruvian  Costume — The  Poncho— Male 
and  Female  Equestrians — Arrival  at  Lima — The  Aspect  of  the  City — 
Miradors — Multitude  of  Asses  in  Lima — London  and  Lima — Costumes  of 
Lima  Ladies — The  Bridge  over  the  Riruac — Venders  of  Cigars — The 
Cordilleras. 

ON  our  road  to  Lima,  we  saw  a  monument  placed  to  commem- 
morate  the  spot  where  a  Spanish  vessel  of  war,  a  frigate,  was  de- 
posited, at  the  time  of  the  memorable  earthquake  of  1746,  by  the 
receding  ocean.  It  is  about  a  mile  from  the  sea-shore.  By  the 
way,  the  present  town  of  Callao  is  not  built  on  the  same  spot  that 
the  old  town  stood  on  before  its  total  destruction.  It  is  more  re- 
moved from  the  beach,  probably  to  avoid,  on  any  similar  occasion, 
the  terrific  billows  that  swept  away  all  of  the  ancient  town  which 
the  frightful  earthquake  itself  had  spared.  If  I  am  correctly  in- 
formed, Old  Callao,  indeed,  was  about  two  miles  to  the  south  of 
the  new  town. 

There  is  a  rather  gentle  inclination  the  whole  way  from  Lima 


376  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

to  tlie  coast :  a  great  many  public  carriages,  as  well  as  private 
ones,  are  constantly  running  on  this  road,  and  I  think  there  is  no 
doubt  the  railroad  will  answer  here  adtnirably  ;  and  I  can  not  but 
believe,  those  who  think  Callao  will  take  the  place  of  Lima  in  the 
future  will  be  mistaken,  as  the  railroad  will  so  materially  interfere 
with  such  a  prospect. 

The  wealthy  merchants  will  have  their  magnificent  mansions  in 
the  city,  and  their  houses  of  business  at  Callao  :  some,  if  not  many, 
follow  this  plan  now,  and  with  the  additional  facilities  afforded  by 
the  railroad,  it  will  become  the  common  custom. 

We  stopped  a  short  time  at  a  sort  of  half-way  house  to  rest  the 
horses,  of  which  we  had  four  attached  to  the  carriage  ;  there  was 
an  omnibus  pausing  there  likewise,  which  seemed  to  be  filled  with 
black  people  and  Indian  women  smoking.  A  man  came  to  ask  us 
if  we  would  alight  from  the  carriage,  and  he  roared  and  thundered 
this  inquiry  (seeing  we  were  foreigners  from  our  wearing  bonnets), 
in  a  terribly  loud  voice,  determined  we  should  hear  if  we  did  not 
understand  Spanish,  which  reminded  me  of  the  favorite  custom  in 
my  own  land,  of  trying  to  make  an  unfortunate  foreigner  under- 
stand and  learn  our  language,  by  the  curious  process  of  first  de- 
priving him  of  his  hearing ;  in  short,  by  deafening  him  with  a 
perfect  volley  of  shouts,  as  if  he  were  still  in  his  own  distant  coun- 
try, and  the  speaker  or  shouter  in  his ;  and  by  dint  of  hallooing, 
this  ^last  hoped  to  make  up  for  the  space  that  separated  them, 
though  it  should  be  from  England  to  Japan.  A  poor  German 

Prince  was  found  one  day  in  the  hall  at in  a  state  bordering 

on  distraction,  with  a  footman  on  each  side  of  him  hallooing  in  his 
ears. 

Not  very  far  from  here,  I  believe,  there  is  a  chapel,  at  which 
the  old  and  new  Spanish  Viceroys  used  formerly  to  meet  when  a 
fresh  one  was  appointed,  and  the  successor  arrived  in  Peru  to  assume 
the  functions  of  governor. 

For  the  last  few  miles  near  Lima  the  road  is  delightful,  with 
beautiful  gardens  on  either  side  of  it.  What  a  situation  is  that  of 
the  City  of  Kings  !  Surrounded  with  these  luxuriant  groves  and 
gardens,  out  of  which  tower  so  magnificently  the  domes,  and  cu- 
polas, and  steeples  of  its  many  noble  churches  and  monasteries, 
with  the  boundless  Pacific  heaving  the  majesty  of  its  unfathomable 
waves  at  the  foot  of  the  gracious  and  throne-like  height  on  which 
it  is  elevated,  and  above  all,  in  every  sense,  the  giant  grandeur  of 
the  awful  Andes  soaring  behind  it  to  the  skies,  crowned  with  eternal 
snow,  and  really  looking  as  if  they  almost  overshadowed  and  over- 


ABSENCE  OF  RAIN  AT  LIMA.  377 

hung  the  stately  city,  for  they  appear  far  closer  than  in  reality  they 
are.  What  a  situation  it  is  ! 

An  extraordinary  canopy  of  clouds  generally  envelops  the  highest 
peaks  and  summits  of  these  sublime  mountains,  as  if  their  awful- 
ness  would  be  too  overwhelming  were  they  beheld  uncovered,  and 
these  clouds  seem  ever  to  threaten  the  beautiful  Lima  with  some 
unheard-of  tempest.  Is  not  Lima  the  King  of  Cities  as  well  as 
the  City  of  Kings?  I  should  unhesitatingly  answer  yes,  had  I 
never  seen  Mexico  and  Constantinople. 

Notwithstanding  the  appearance  of  the  thick  and  sable  clouds 
that  hover  almost  continually  over  the  mighty  peaks  of  the  mount- 
ains, it  is  said  never  to  rain  at  Lima,  and  thunder  and  lightning 
have  not  ever  scared  the  inhabitants  of  the  plains  of  Peru.  In  the 
mountains,  however,  fall  showers  of  rain,  and  occasionally  there 
arise  furious  hurricanes  and  tempests.  A  great  deal  of  dew  and 
of  mist  in  the  winter,  dropping  in  the  valleys,  makes  up  for  the 
absence  of  rain  ;  and  it  is  not  often  the  sun  is  seen,  save  through  a 
softening  vail  of  vapor.  But  I  can  not  corroborate  the  statements 
of  those  who  say  the  sun  never  shines  in  Lima,  as  I  have  seen  it 
already  several  times  pouring  forth  its  most  brilliant  beams,  but 
not  for  any  length  of  time  continuously  and  uninterruptedly.  The 
full  glory  of  his  tropical  resplendence  is  in  the  morning  (when  he 
does  appear) :  then  gradually  grows  and  gathers  around  him  that 
floating  pavillion  of  clouds  which  casts  a  soft  and  delightful  shadow 
on  the  earth. 

The  approach  to  the  city  from  the  port  of  Callao  is  a  very  wide, 
handsome  road,  that  runs  almost  in  a  straight  line ;  and  as  you 
draw  near  the  suburbs  of  the  capital,  on  each  side  are  to  be  seen 
numerous  immense  remains  of  fine  haciendas,  which  have  been 
deserted  during  the  troublous  times  of  civil  war  and  revolution, 
and  still-inhabited  villas  and  cultivated  grounds  and  gardens. 

Olive-trees  and  aloes  grow  along  the  sides  of  the  road.  Where 
there  is  an  interspace  between,  the  gardens  and  the  distant  fields 
are  to  be  seen  divided  by  rude  walls  of  adobes,  and  irrigated  by 
means  of  numerous  acequias,  or  small  canals,  conducting  the  fer- 
tilizing waters  of  the  silvery  Rimac. 

Still  advancing,  you  find  the  road  alive  with  busy  passengers, 
and  citizens  and  ladies  of  Lima,  besides  droves  of  beasts  of  burden, 
conveying  cargoes  of  merchandize  almost  continually  to  and  fro. 
When  any  specie  is  thus  transported,  the  train  of  animals  is  usually 
escorted  by  a  small  body  of  negro  soldados,  carrying  lances  with  a 
little  bright  scarlet  flag  at  the  end  of  each. 


378  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

It  is  sometimes  stated  that  an  enormous  quantity  of  specie  is 
smuggled  away  from  hence,  but  I  know  not  whether  this  is  true. 
We  saw  a  goodly  number  of  equestrians  and  equestrianesses  as  we 
passed  along,  the  former  accoutred  in  the  brilliant  and  graceful 
Peruvian  costume.  The  poncho,  or  cloak,  is  always  worn — this  I 
have  mentioned  before  :  it  has  a  circular  opening  for  the  head  of 
the  wearer  to  pass  through,  and  has  generally  a  gay  fringe  round 
the  edges.  It  displays  often  a  great  brilliancy  and  variety  of  • 
colors ;  occasionally  it  is  very  richly  and  fancifully  embroidered, 
and  sometimes  it  is  of  a  snowy  white,  but  generally  exhibits  broad 
and  bright  stripes — orange,  scarlet,  blue,  green,  or  rose-colored,  or 
variegated  combinations  of  these,  and  at  other  times  different  pat- 
terns, gayly  intermixed  and  diversified. 

The  poncho  hangs  gracefully  over  the  shoulders,  and  falls  almost 
down  to  the  knees.  It  is  certainly  very  picturesque  and  striking, 
with  the  ordinary  accompaniments  of  richly-carved  stirrups  (which 
stirrups  are  usually  triangular  and  rather  massive-looking  blocks 
of  wood,  generally  ornamented  and  tipped  with  burnished  silver), 
and  glittering  caparisons  for  the  horse. 

However,  I  do  not  think  the  poncho  for  a  single  moment  can  be 
compared  with  the  far  more  beautiful  and  more  picturesque  Mexi- 
can serape  ;  and  the  Mexican  costume  altogether  is,  I  think,  very 
much  handsomer.  The  hats  worn  here,  are  commonly  the  white 
Guayaquil  grass  sombreros,  sometimes  with  very  broad  brims,  and 
at  other  times  like  small  plates ;  and  the  windmill-like  spurs  are 
perfect  masses  of  heavy  metal,  very  frequently  of  silver,  the  enor- 
mous rowel  standing  out  four  or  five  inches  from  the  heel,  and  the 
spikes  being  perhaps  an  inch  and  a  half  or  more  in  length. 

As  for  the  horsewomen,  the  greater  part  of  them  are  peasants 
(Indian  dames,  or  negresses),  who  usually  ride  in  cavalier  fashion, 
with  an  ample  balloon-like  white  muslin  dress — which  sometimes 
makes  them  look  like  the  dome  of  St.  Paul's  on  horseback — or  else 
the  same  description  of  capacious  garment  in  gaudy  calico  of  many 
colors ;  a  delicate  silk  stocking  and  beautifully  fitting  shoe  on  a 
very  little  foot,  which  is  furnished  with  a  spur,  a  shawl  or  flutter- 
ing scarf  of  the  most  florid  designs,  and  of  a  hundred  hues,  an  im- 
mense Guayaquil  hat  with  broad  streaming  variegated  ribbons,  and 
coquettish  bows  on  whichever  they  consider  the  "congregation  side 
of  the  head,"  and  with  the  shining  cascade  of  abundant  coal-black 
tresses,  carefully  divided  on  the  dark  forehead,  and  hanging  down 
the  back  in  long  braided  streamers.  They  generally  ride  at  a 
quiet  little  jog-trot  butter-and-egg-pace,  while  the  gentleman  eques- 


NEIGHBORHOOOD  OF  LIMA.  379 

trians  dash  to  and  fro  at  a  wild  gallop,  and  make  the  dust  fly 
merrily. 

The  verdant  and  flourishing  appearance  of  the  neighborhood  of 
Lima  is  a  matter  of  astonishment  to  the  traveler,  till  the  cause 
of  this  is  known.  It  is  not  only  the  vapors  and  dews  that  con- 
tribute to  this,  but  the  circumstance,  that  in  all  the  plains  in  Peru 
that  lie  between  the  Great  Cordillera  and  the  Pacific  Ocean,  the 
water  is  found  invariably  from  three  to  four  feet  below  the  surface, 
thus  compensating  for  the  absence  of  rain  by  the  facilities  afforded 
to  irrigation,  a  practice  which  was  universally  resorted  to  by  the 
ancient  Peruvians,  and  adopted  and  continued  by  their  Spanish 
conquerors.  The  skill  of  the  Indian  inhabitants  had  literally  in- 
tersected all  the  cultivated  country  with  the  acequias,  by  which 
the  waters  flowing  from  the  mountains  are  divided  and  subdivided 
into  almost  innumerable  little  channels  for  irrigation. 

But  now  about  a  mile  from  the  capital,  our  vehicle,  rolling  amid 
thick  clouds  of  dust,  has  arrived  at  the  avenue,  or  Alameda ;  and 
the  road  runs  between  straight  double  rows  of  tall  poplars  and 
willow-trees,  with  a  handsome  promenade  on  each  side  (furnished 
with  stone  benches  for  all  who  wish  to  see  omnibuses  and  donkeys, 
and  enjoy  volumes  of  dust)  to  the  city  :  from  this  broad,  splendid 
avenue  we  pass  through  an  arched  gateway  into  Lima  :  this  gate- 
way admits  you  within  a  lofty  thick  wall,  which  surrounds  the 
city  entirely,  and  forms  its  sole  defense. 

We  were  in  Lima,  the  capital  of  Peru  !  Peru,  whose  very 
name  seems  like  a  fairy  tale,  and  to  mean  a  world  of  gold  and  sil- 
ver and  precious  stones.  The  land  of  the  magnificent  Children  of 
the -Sun,  the  stately  Incas,  who  could  offer  a  hall  piled  with  gold 
as  a  ransom ;  whose  Spanish  Viceroys,  in  later  days,  on  state  oc- 
casions, walked  on  pavements  of  solid  silver !  Away  we  rattled 
to  the  French  hotel  to  which  we  had  been  recommended,  but  not 
on  silver  pavements,  nor  very  praiseworthy  stone  ones. 

The  houses  in  Lima  are,  I  think,  handsome.  They  frequently 
consist  only  of  one  story  (on  account  of  repeated  earthquake  visita- 
tions), though  there  are  many  exceedingly  fine  ones  with  two 
stories ;  but  these  have  very  often  a  deserted  air,  and  are  out  of 
repair  and  dilapidated,  in  consequence  of  having  been  abandoned 
by  their  original  owners,  who  took  alarm  at  their  loftiness  and 
supposed  insecurity — and  they  now  are  sometimes  tenanted  by 
poorer  families.  There  are,  however,  very  many  exceptions  to  this 
rule. 

The  houses  in  general  are  surmounted  with  a  flag- staff ;  they 


380  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

have,  I  think,  a  remarkably  Moorish  air,  and  I  was  much  struck 
with  the  resemblance  of  their  very  peculiar  balconies  to  those  I 
remember  so  well  at  Valetta,  in  Malta ;  although  these  at  Lima 
are  very  much  longer  and  larger  altogether  ;  indeed,  I  have  lately 
seen  some  that  form  spacious  apartments  in  themselves,  beautifully 
furnished,  carpeted,  and  decorated.  But  I  will  briefly  describe 
them. 

You  must  imagine  long  lines,  all  along  the  fronts  of  the  houses, 
of  enormous  verandas  of  wood,  many  projecting  very  far  over  the 
foot-pavements,  from  the  second  stories  of  the  houses  (which  are 
called  "  altos"  here).  The  lower  part,  probably  to  the  height  of 
three  feet,  or  thereabouts,  is  entirely  closed  up  along  the  extended 
front,  and  at  different  parts  and  at  the  two  terminations  this  im- 
mense, covered  wooden  balcony  is  supported  on  far  projecting  beams, 
with  sculptured  and  variously-shaped  ends,  while  from  the  inclosed 
portion  to  the  roof  are  long,  light  shutters  of  lattice-work  (or  glass 
windows),  which  are  depended,  and  swung  from  hinges  at  the  top  : 
if  these  are  required  to  be  open,  there  is,  I  think,  a  long,  hooked 
bar,  by  which  they  can  be  fastened,  and  kept  wide  open  ;  but,  oc- 
casionally the  head  is  used  by  the  fair  Peruvians  instead,  who,  with 
their  arms  resting  on  the  light,  wooden  wall  of  the  lower  part  of 
the  balcony,  keep  back  with  that  graceful  mantilla'd  head  the 
light  shutters.  If  the  head  is  pushed  out  far  enough,  of  course,  all 
in  the  streets  on  all  sides  is  visible ;  but  if  the  Senora  objects  to 
this,  and  is  tired  of  the  front  scene,  she  has  only  to  walk  to  either 
end,  and  take  a  complete  side  view. 

Most  of  these  "miradors"  are  furnished  with  glass  windows, 
now,  but  I  believe  this  has  only  been  done  lately.  These  capa- 
cious verandas  are  not  very  unlike  gigantic  and  enormously 
lengthened  out  opera-boxes,  from  which  the  spectator  may  observe 
all  that  the  street  presents  o'f  a  "  spectacle  ;"  and  the  very  large 
and  handsome  ones,  provided  with  delicate  mats,  or  many-pat-v 
terned  carpets,  and  furnished  with  chairs  and  cushioned  sofas, 
form  a  kind  of  conservatory-balcony,  where  the  bright  human 
flowers  of  beautiful  Peru,  guarded  and  shielded  from  wind  and 
mist-like  dews,  may  smile  (and  sometimes  smoke  !)  in  all  security 
and  in  peace. 

The  houses  in  Lima  have  large  court-yards ;  those  in  the  more 
distinguished  of  them,  are  quite  little  plazas  in  themselves — but  I 
will  say  more  of  them  presently. 

We  rattled  noisily  up  to  the  great  double-gates  of  the  large 
French  hotel,  after  passing  through  a  number  of  busy,  populous, 


BEAUTY  OF  LIMA.  381 


looking  streets,  and  soon  after  took  possession  of  an  apartment 
which,  rather  to  our  disappointment,  did  not  look  on  the  street,  so 
that  we  found  ourselves  in  a  large  saloon,  verandaless  and  win- 
dowless.  When  the  great  gate-like  doors,  that  open  on  a  very 
broad  and  uncovered  kind  of  semi-patio  of  stone,  which  has  a  stair- 
case ascending  from  the  lower  court-yard  (for  this  hotel  has  two 
stories,  and  we  are  in  the  "alto"),  are  closed,  we  have  no  light 
except  from  a  small  "  claraboya,"  or  skylight,  which  shuts  or 
opens  by  means  of  long  ropes,  hanging  down  into  the  room.  The 
bedrooms  have  small  windows  looking  on  the  stone-paved  corridor 
and  down  upon  the  court-yard,  which  court-yard  is  a  thorough- 
fare. 

The  immense  arched  gateway  that  leads  to  it  in  front,  opens 
first  into  a  broad  covered  passage-way,  which  in  most  houses  is 
decorated  with  some  arabesques  or  with  a  gaudy  painting  on  either 
side,  representing  a  variety  of  subjects,  often  scriptural,  but  occa- 
sionally mythological.  Ours  is,  pleasantly  enough  for  us,  occupied 
on  one  side  by  the  ample  stall  of  a  female  fruit-vender,  who  has 
always  a  most  abundant  provision  of  delicious  fruits,  and  who  sits 
there  from  earliest  dawn,  I  believe,  to  "dewy  eve" — very  dewy 
are  generally  the  eves  hi  rainless  Lima. 

Without  meaning  any  bad  compliment  to  the  inhabitants  of  this 
grand  old  capital,  I  am  constrained  to  say,  I  think  T  never  saw  or 
heard  so  many  asses  as  in  Lima :  their  name  is  legion,  and  they 
bray  with  a  hundred-donkey  power.  We  are  anxious  to  see  the 
gentle  Llamas,  but  it  is  said  they  very  rarely  come  into  the  city. 
There  are  hosts  of  convicts  here,  and  very  villainous-looking  ones. 
Notwithstanding  dilapidation,  donkeys,  and  convict  gangs,  how- 
ever, Lima  is  a  very  charming  place,  on  the  whole ;  not  gay  and 
glittering  as  the  Havana,  nor  beautiful  and  enchanting  as  Mexico, 
but  with  a  thousand  peculiarities  and  glories  of  her  own,  besides  her 
majestically  superb  situation.  Lima  is  like  nothing  but  Lima,  and 
as  unlike  all  our  mostly  commonplace,  though  wealthy,  and  utterly 
civilized  European  cities  as  it  is  possible  to  imagine  any  thing  to 
be !  Herculaneum,  hoisted  above-ground,  might  in  some  few 
particulars  partially  resemble  it  Yet  no  ;  it  would  not !  Ideal 
cities  of  half-destroyed  chateaux  d'Espagne  would  be  most  like  it ! 

I  can  not  help  smiling  to  think  of  good-humored  Madame  J , 

at  Panama,  who  knew  but  two  great  cities,  London  and  Lima, 
and  was  perpetually  talking  of  the  two  together,  as  if  they  were  the 
Siamese  twins  of  towns.  "  Ah,  at  London  and  Lima  I  used  to  go 
to  shops  and  buy  so  and  so;  there's  none  here;"  and,  "But  at 


382  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

London  and  Lima  they  do  this  and  that ;"  or,  "  When  one  is  at 
Lima  and  London  it  is  easy  to  find  such  and  such  things."  And 
the  difference  is  so  ludicrously  vast — they  are  such  complete 
architectural  antipodes  to  each  other,  and  such  antipodes  in  every 
thing  else. 

Lima,  which,  besides  its  stately  title  of  the  City  of  Kings,  was 
called  proudly  the  City  of  a  Thousand  Towers  and  of  a  Hundred 
Gates,  as  if  it  were  a  nobler  Spanish  Thebes,  is  certainly  quite  the 
city  of  churches,  steeples,  domes,  towers,  palaces  (in  decay),  ve- 
randas, colonnades,  piazzas,  porticos,  patios,  corridors,  balconies, 
quadrangles,  galleries,  lattices,  frescoes,  arabesques,  vestibules, 
cowled  priests,  ponchoed  cavaliers  and  saya-y-mantoed  ladies. 

I  dare  say  the  reader  may  have  seen  engravings  of  the  latter  ex- 
traordinary costume  of  the  Lima  ladies,  which  is  now  very  con- 
siderably modified,  and  instead  of  looking  as  if  they  were  walking 
about  in  elastic,  closely-fitting,  upright  coffins,  which  they  must 
formerly  have  had  the  appearance  of  doing,  they  look  like  very 
graceful  ladies,  floating  along  in  an  atmosphere  of  encircling  black 
silk,  and  closely  masked,  only  showing  one  bright  black  eye,  as  if 
they  were  so  many  fair  Cyclopesses. 

I  know  not  how  it  is,  but  something  in  the  arrangement  of  this 
cloaking  vail  always  makes  it  appear  to  me  as  if  the  eye  was  in 

the  middle  of  the  cheek.  In  coming  back  from  Mrs.  A 's, 

the  other  day,  we  missed  the  turning  into  our  street,  and  I  asked 
one  of  these  "  Tapadaes,"  as  they  are  called,  the  way  ;  and  while 
she  was  courteously  telling  me,  I  tried  to  ascertain  what  it  was 
that  gave  it,  to  me  at  least,  that  peculiar  appearance.  Perhaps  it 
may  be  partly  the  extreme  fullness  of  their  flashing  eyes,  that 
makes  the  size  of  the  suppressed  (and  perhaps  somewhat  cowipressod) 
nose  seem  less,  and  the  exposed  eye  more  prominent,  and  level  with 
that  feature — but  I  could  not  make  it  out  satisfactorily  at  all. 

The  English  minister,  and  Mrs.  A ,  are  particularly  kind 

and  amiable  to  us.  Mrs.  A is  a  truly  charming  person. 

How  I  envy  the  exceeding  fluency  and  correctness  with  which 
she  talks  Spanish.  She  took  us  out  for  a  drive  yesterday,  and  we 
were  perfectly  enchanted  with  the  views  in  the  vicinity  of  Lima, 
and  with  the  town  itself. 

We  crossed  a  very  striking  and  picturesque  stone  bridge,  thrown 
across  the  sparkling  Rimac,  to  go  to  one  of  the  Alamedas.  This 
bridge  is  old,  having  been  built  in  1610.  The  carriages •  enter  it 
by  a  broad  arch  across  the  centre  of  the  street,  and  there  are  two 
lesser  arches  crossing  the  two  side  pavements.  Lofty,  handsome 


VENDERS  OF  CIGARS.  383 

carved  turrets  and  spires  surmount  these  noble  arches,  and  give 
the  bridge  a  very  imposing  effect.  They  say  every  stone  in  this 
puente  has  been  loosened  by  the  dreadful  earthquake.  The  river 
Rimac  dashes  boldly  and  brightly  along  over  a  rocky  and  ragged  bed. 

This  bridge  joins  the  main  portion  of  Lima  to  the  suburb  of 
San  Lazaro,  which  would' otherwise  be  separated  from  the  prin- 
cipal part  of  the  city  by  the  river :  it  appears  a  very  busy  and 
animated  thoroughfare. 

There  are  recesses,  semi-circ'ularly  shaped,  with  stone  benches, 
that  open  from  the  wide  promenades  along  the  bridge,  and  where 
often  rests  the  visitor  to  Lima,  gazing  on  the  throngs  that  pass 
ceaselessly  by,  characteristically  attired,  and  intent  on  their  vari- 
ous errands  of  business  or  recreation.  Beside  him,  perhaps,  are 
several  fair  Limanians,  in  saya-y-manto,  or  dandy  citizens,  star- 
gazers  on  the  one  brilliant  orb- — that  eye  which  is  peeping  out  like 
a  planet  from  many  sable  clouds. 

Near  the  entrance  to  this  old,  solid,  yet  fantastic  bridge,  are 
stationed  sometimes  venders  of  cigars.  An  old  man,  I  have  heard, 
sells  here  the  cast-off  stumps  of  these  articles,  arranged  neatly  on 
a  tray. 

The  view  from  this  bridge  is  exceedingly  lovely.  If  the  eye 
travels  down  the  silvery  road  of  the  river,  its  left  bank  is  beheld 
richly  embellished  by  the  luxuriant  gardens  of  magnificent  old 
convents,  and  of  the  splendid  mansions  of  the  Peruvian  million- 
aires. The  view  ends  with  the  Pacific  !  Then,  if  the  glance  is 
turned  in  the  opposite  direction,  we  scan  the  broad,  verdant  avenues 
of  the  lovely  Alameda  del  Acho ;  and  beyond,  the  shadowy  groves 
and  gardens  of  the  valley,  and  the  glistening  turrets  of  the  Pan- 
theon;  the  entire  exquisite  scene  being  bounded  by  that  lower 
range  of  mountains  which  incloses  the  charming  green  valley  of 
the  Rimac. 

But  the  view  beyond  this  is  sublime  indeed :  the  higher  range 
of  the  glorious  Cordilleras,  when  the  clouds  admit  of  that  majestic 
sight,  are  seen,  with  their  indestructible  diadems  of  perpetual  snow, 
towering  on  high,  mountain  behind  mountain,  summit  above  sum- 
mit, crests  gleaming  between  crests,  and  peaks  soaring  beyond 
peaks ;  an  untrodden,  undesecrated  world  between  the  earth  and 
the  spotless  skies,  shooting  up  its  myriads  of  rocky  spires — like 
natural  conductors  of  the  lightning  and  storms,  as  if  to  interpose 
that  pure  and  higher  part  of  creation,  fresh  as  it  came  from  the 
most  awful  hand  of  Omnipotence — betwixt  the  wrath  of  Heaven 
and  the  now  sullied,  blighted  lower  Earth. 


384  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

Vain  fancies !  We  have  a  securer  shelter ;  and  where  the 
humblest  church  lifts  up  the  lowliest  spire  (as  some  eloquent  writer 
once  said),  there  is  a  better  conductor  of  that  awful  lightning  of 
wrath  from  our  wretched  heads,  and  from  our  fallen  world ! 


CHAPTER  XLVI.II. 

The  Great  Plaza— The  Cathedral  of  Lima— The  Streets  of  that  City— The 
Silversmiths — The  Bells  of  Lima — Charitable  Institutions — Churches  and 
Convents — Handsome  Houses — Palaces  of  the  Past — Grotesque  Paintings 
— Well-appointed  Carriages — The  Limanian  Beggar-woman — Particu- 
larities of  Lima  Ladies'  Dress — Their  Shoes — M.  and  Madame  B 

— Their  Daughter. 

THE  Great  Plaza,  a  principal  public  square  in  Lima,  is  ex- 
tremely handsome.  It  has  a  large  brazen  fountain  in  the  middle, 
said  to  be  about  forty  feet  high,  surmounted  with  a  figure  which 
represents,  I  believe,  the  Goddess  of  Fame  bearing  aloft  her 
trumpet 

The  old  palace  of  Pizarro  once  stood  in  this  square — on  the 
north  side,  I  am  told  ;  but  now  its  place  is  filled  up  with  a  hand- 
some colonnade,  which  has  a  great  number  of  shops  and  stalls 
under  it.  This  colonnade  forms  one  side  of  the  Plaza.  The  first 
stone  of  the  famous  old  cathedral,  on  the  other  side,  was  laid  by 
Pizarro,  and  his  bones  are  said  to  repose  in  a  vault  beneath  the 
sacred  edifice. 

Some  people  think  the  cathedral  a  huge  and  clumsy  mass  of 
tasteless  architecture ;  but  allowing  that  it  has  an  abundance  of 
defects,  architecturally  speaking,  still  there  is  something  about  it 
that  is  both  pleasing  and  imposing.  If  you  can  fancy  a  gorgeous 
and  fantastic  temple  in  the  clouds,  when  sunset  casts  its  fleeting 
pomp  over  the  skies,  adorned  with  a  thousand  strange  splendors, 
you  may  a  little  paint  it  to  your  imagination.  There  is  a  profu- 
sion of  diversified  rich  coloring,  and  a  mass  of  lavish  tracery,  arid 
curious  and  quaint  decorations  on  the  front  of  the  edifice.  I  intend 
to  visit  the  interior  before  I  go  from  Lima. 

There  is  an  ecclesiastical  building  adjoining  the  cathedral.  It 
is  the  Archiepiscopal  Palace.  The  Government  House  is  on  an- 
other side  of  the  square,  and  the  covered  colonnades  or  portales 
occupy  the  remainder.  Under  the  portales,  which  of  course  open 
under  their  large  and  handsome  arches  to  the  Great  Plaza,  are 


CHARITABLE  INSTITUTIONS.  385 

numerous  well-supplied  fancy  shops,  and  a  great  deal  of  exquisite 
gold  and  silver  embroidery  may  be  seen  there.  There  are  excel- 
lent "tiendas"  (shops)  also  in  the  Calle  Mercaderes,  which  is  quite" 
a  French  street,  being  almost  entirely  occupied  by  French  shop- 
keepers. They  display  a  profusion  of  handsome  and  excellent 
goods,  of  various  kinds. 

There  is  another  street  where  the  Peruvian  silversmiths  con- 
gregate chiefly,  but  they  do  not  make  much  exhibition  of  their 
handiwork.  The  exquisite  silver  filagree  work,  however,  is  most 
surprisingly  beautiful,  and  most  elaborately  and  delicately  wrought ; 
but  the  specimens  of  this  highly  finished  workmanship  mostly  come 
from  the  interior,  and  are  made  by  the  Indians. 

I  never  heard  any  thing  like  the  sublime  tone  of  the  bells  of 
Lima.  It  is  the  profoundest  and  most  majestic  sound  imaginable, 
and  resounds  through  the  air  as  if  the  deep  vibrations  would  dwell 
there,  and  brood,  and  never  cease,  lengthening  and  deepening  on 
and  on — the  most  unearthly  yet  most  beautiful  music  I  ever  heard. 
The  reason  given  for  this  extraordinary  and  matchless  magnificence 
of  tone,  is  the  enormous  quantity  of  silver  in  the  bells.  There  was 
a  large  proportion  originally,  and  this  was  added  to,  I  am  told 
here,  during  the  casting  of  the  bells,  by  devout  persons  throwing 
in,  as  oblations  and  offerings,  almost  innumerable  silver  coins,  of 
divers  weights  and  values.  In  short,  the  contents  of  half  a  mine 
of  the  precious  metal  almost  are  suspended  in  the  air. 

The  great  cathedral  bell  is  surpassingly  glorious  in  its  unfathom- 
ably  deep  peal  of  tremulous  silver  thunder — nay,  it  seems  a  thou- 
sand thunders  rolling  afar  !  But  the  other  bells  at  Lima  are  also 
very  rich  and  harmonious  in  their  sublime  tones. 

There  are  several  eleemosynary  establishments  in  this  city, 
among  which  the  Foundling  Hospital  is  said  to  be  particularly 
well-managed,  and  a  lunatic  one  particularly  ill.  There  are  a 
great  many  handsome  churches  and  convents  in  Lima,  and  they 
are  the  prominent  features  in  all  parts  of  the  city.  They  are 
mostly  enormous  structures,  crowned  by  majestic  domes,  and  tow- 
ers, and  steeples,  and  displaying  on  their  extensive  fronts  a  perfect 
labyrinth  of  elaborate  painting,  complicated  decorative  designs, 
statuary,  and  carving. 

I  hear  that  some  of  these  immense  churches  and  nunneries,  in- 
close within  their  widely-extended  walls  very  spacious  and  superb 
squares  :  the  convents  often  have  porticos,  piazzas,  and  covered 
colonnades,  beautifully  built  and  finished,  and  supported  one  above 
another  on  highly-ornamented  rows  of  splendid  arches  Their 

R 


386  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

massive  walls  are  wholly  covered  with  richly-figured,  glazed  porce- 
lain and  fresco  paintings,  their  roofs  artistically  adorned  and  carved, 
and  contiguous  to  them,  or  even  within  their  vast  encircling  walls, 
are  exquisite  gardens  of  the  richest  shrubs,  and*  plants,  and  flow- 
ers, with  gushing  fountains  arid  shadowy  walks,  from  which  the 
busy  world  is  shut  out,  and  where  contemplation  may  dwell  un- 
disturbed. I  hear  that  the  orders  in  Lima  are  exceedingly  strict, 
and  that  generally  no  women  even  "are  admitted  into  the  principal 
nunneries. 

We  have  seen  here  very  handsome  streets,  and  some  regal-look- 
ing old  houses.  Some  of  the  most  splendid,  we  were  informed, 
are  now  subdivided  and  let  to  a  number  of  families  in  indifferent 
circumstances — in  fact,  forming  a  little  town  in  themselves.  Still 
as  we  drove  by  and  caught  a  casual  glimpse  through  their  enor- 
mous gateways — their  gigantic  fountained  court-yards,  their  su- 
perb piazzas,  and  the  remains  of  former  gilding,  and  painting,  and 
elaborate  carving,  and  various  showy  and  costly,  though  moulder- 
ing adornments,  made  those  palaces  of  the  past  look  like  genii 
structures  of  the  Land  of  Faery  and  sorcery,  under  some  evil  en- 
chanter's gloomy  thrall  and  desolating  spell.  They  are  not  in 
what  is  now  considered  the  fashionable  part  of  Lima.  In  the 
generality  of  houses  here,  beneath  the  covered  verandas,  there 
usually  is  a  broad  and  handsomely-paved  entrance  to  the  court- 
yard, through  massive  and  exceedingly  high  double  gates  (which 
are  thickly  studded  over  with  strong  brazen  knobs). 

Around  this  ample  court  the  house  is  built,  and  in  those  that 
are  constructed  of  two  stories,  the  stables,  apartments  for  domes- 
tics, store-rooms  and  offices  open  on  this  court-yard,  and  are  on 
the  same  level  with  it.  From  thence  ascends  a  flight  of  broad 
stairs  to  the  vast  galleries  above,  leading  to  the  different  suites  of 
apartments  occupied  by  the  various  members  of  the  family,  the 
great  salas,  or  reception-rooms,  &c. 

The  entrance  is  frequently  a  little  shorn  of  its  grandeur  and  im- 
posing effect  by  having  shops  built  along  it :  but  when  it  is  not 
thus  disfigured,  the  line  of  the  street  is  divided  from  the  court- 
yard by  a  thick,  lofty  wall.  The  immense  gates  open  into  a  wide 
covered  passage-way  of  some  length,  which  is  adorned  commonly 
on  both  sides  with  frescoes.  The  window-sills  in  the  court-yards 
are  usually  gilt,  in  the  houses  of  the  wealthy,  which,  with  the 
bright-colored  jalousies,  gives  them  a  gay  appearance. 

Occasionally,  the  handsomest  and  principal  part  of  the  stately 
mansion  crosses  the  court,  exactly  opposite  to  the  entrance.  The 


GROTESQUE  PAINTINGS.  387 

whole  of  this  portion  of  the  building  is  then  adorned  by  a  noble 
portico,  and  the  front  of  the  mansion  is  decorated  by  elaborate  iron 
open-work,  brilliantly  gilt  or  bronzed  over,  and  presenting  a  very 
rich  appearance.  These  house  have  ordinarily  only  one  story,  and 
have  rooms  of  very  great  height  and  vast  size.  At  the  back  of 
this  principal  or  central  portion  of  the  house  is  another  lesser  court- 
yard, called  the  "traspatio;"  it  is  a  sort  of  kitchen  and  servants' 
court-yard. 

On  driving  on  the  Alameda  the  other  day,  we  observed  a  large 
wall,  built  along  one  side  of  the  tree-shaded  promenade,  and  cover- 
ed all  over  with  grotesque-looking  paintings,  the  color  of  which 
seemed  as  fresh  and  bright  as  if  just  done.  I  did  not  examine  it 
closely  enough  to  see  accurately  the  subjects,  as  we  dashed  rapidly 

on,  drawn  by  Mrs.  A 's  beautiful  and  spirited  horses ;  but  I 

imagine  it  to  be  one  of  which  1  have  read  a  description,  and  which 
is  called  by  the  natives,  "  El  mundo  al.revez,"  where  the  system 
of  nature  is  entirely  reversed,  and  dogs  are  hanging  their  masters ; 
horses  riding  on  men's  backs ;  and  some  of  the  finny  tribe,  repre- 
sented standing  a-tail-tip,  with  fishing-rods  in  their  mouths,  ang- 
ling for  ci-devant  gentlemen-sportsmen  who  are  seen  nibbling  at 
the  bait  !  In  short,  all  is  almost  in  as  great  a  state  of  confusion 
and  disorder,  as  if  the  whole  world,  instead  of  a  part,  had  sudden- 
ly become  French  or  Irish,  and  were  altering  every  thing  to  their 
hearts'  content ;  for  even  themselves,  must  and  do  own,  that 
while  among  the  noblest  people  on  the  earth,  they  are  certainly 
the  fondest  of  change  and  excitement. 

In  driving  through  the  streets  here,  we  often  meet  handsome 
and  well-appointed  carriages  ;  some  remarkably  so.  We  saw  a 
really  splendid  one  the  other  day,  with  beautiful  horses,  that  might 
have  been  transported  to  Hyde  Park,  and  admired  there.  The 
ladies  occupying  it  were  all  in  Parisian  bonnets.  I  thought  they 
were  foreigners.  Alas  !  no  ;  they  were  Limanians  :  and  they  had 
deserted  thus  the  loveliest  of  all  head-dresses — their  own  matchless 
mantillas.  The  saya-y-manto  we  see,  by  the  way,  worn  almost 
in  its  original  quaintness  and  eccentricity,  by  an  old  beggar-wo- 
man, who  comes  sometimes  to  the  great  gates  of  our  sitting-room 
while  we  are  at  breakfast,  and  asks  for  money,  bread,  milk,  clothes, 
any  thing — every  thing. 

She  has  never  favored  us  with  a  sight  of  Tnore  than  her  one  eye, 

holding  her  vail  over  her  face  with  as  much  care  (before  only  V 

and  me)  as  I  once  saw  a  Turkish  beggar-woman  bestow  upon 
her  coarse  yashmack,  who  when  we  offered  her  half  a  handful  of 


388  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

small  coins  if  she  would  drop  her  yashmack,  indignantly  refused, 
and  marched  away  with  the  step  of  an  insulted  queen. 

We  should  not  have  guessed  the  mendicant  "tapada"  was  old 
but  from  her  shriveled  hands,  and  quavering,  cracked  voice,  so 
well  disguised  was  she.  We  were  told  she  had  formerly  been 
tolerably  rich,  but  had  been  reduced  by  different  misfortunes. 
Her  once  handsome  saya-y-manto  was  not  exactly  tattered,  but 
the  rich  black  satin  had  lost  its  lustre,  and  grown  dingy  with  age. 
The  saya  is  a  silken  or  satin  petticoat,  stitched  neatly  in  very 
narrow  plaits,  and  thickly  quilted  and  lined.  This  used  to  cling 
like  a  web  of  wax  around  the  form  ;  but  now,  fitting  at  the  waist, 
it  hangs  in  full  folds  down,  to  the  satin-slippered  feet. 

This  petticoat,  formerly,  I  believe,  was  almost  uniformly  black, 
but  in  these  days  (though  frequently  it  is  still  of  sable  hue)  it  is 
very  often  blue  or  brown. 

The  manto  is  a  black  silk  vail,  of  impenetrable  thickness,  drawn 
up  from  under  the  waist  of  the  silken  saya,  and  gracefully  gather- 
ed over  the  shoulders  and  head  as  a  sort  of  hood,  very  much  resem- 
bling the  Maltese  faldetta  (and  no  doubt  both  have  originated 
from  Moorish  costume  and  customs),  though  so  much  more  con- 
cealing the  face.  All  the  upper  part  of  the  form  is  thus  closely 
covered  and  disguised,  except  the  one  eye.  One  hand  is  occupied 
in  holding  this  manto  firmly  across  the  masked  face,  and  the 
other  from  time  to  time  may  possibly  be  allowed  to  pass  through 
a  little  opening  in  the  manto,  more  especially  if  its  fair  owner  con- 
siders it  deserving  of  admiration,  and  if  its  small  fingers  are  en- 
riched with  sparkling  jewels. 

The  embroidered  ends  of  a  many-colored  scarf  or  shawl  are  per- 
mitted to  pass  through  this  same  opening,  generally  fringed  and 
flowered.  All  wear  satin  shoes  and  silk  stockings,  even  those  in 
the  most  tattered,  wom-out  habiliments.  We  are  told,  that  the 
extravagance  formerly  shown  in  this  article  of  dress  was  very  great. 
If  a  more  than  usual  quantity  of  dewy  moisture  had  made  the 
streets  of  the  capital  as  muddy  as  if  a  heavy  shower  of  rain  had 
fallen  (and  this  is  not  unfrequently  the  case),  the  ladies  would  im- 
mediately eagerly  hasten  to  make  their  appearance  in  the  most 
delicate  new  white  satin  shoes,  which  of  course  could  never  be 
worn  again  ;  hoping  that  by  speedily  "making  hay  while  the  sun 
shone"  (a  very  inappropriately  quoted  proverb  !),  in  the  morning 
they  might  have  the  good  fortune  to  spoil  Entirely  one  exquisite 
pair  of  zapatos  de  raso,  in  the  afternoon  they  might  possibly  have 
the  superlative  felicity  (if  the  inexorable  climate  did  not  cruelly 


HEROISM  OF  A  LADY.  38tf 

disappoint  them  by  drying  up  the  moisture)  of  destroying  another 
pair,  and  in  the  evening  even  of  severely  damaging  a  third. 

This  refinement  of  luxury  is  now  rather  out  of  fashion,  and  the 
Lima  ladies  are  no  longer  such  empresses  of  all  the  Russias,  with 
regard  to  their  chaussure.  The  reader  knows,  perhaps,  that  tha 
fair  Czarina  never  wears  a  dress  twice. 

Mr.  P ,  the  English  clergyman  here,  called  to-day,  with  his 

very  amiable  wife ;  and  also  Mrs.  B (the  wife  of  one  of  the 

English  merchant-princes  here,),  who  is  extremely  agreeable  and 
pleasing.  The  next  apartments  to  ours  are  occupied  by  a  French 

lady  and  gentleman,  M.  and  Madame  du  C .  M.  du  C 

had  the  misfortune  to  break  his  arm,  by  a  fall  from  his  mule,  in 
crossing  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  and  he  has  never  recovered  it. 
He  is  chief  Secretary,  I  believe,  to  the  French  Legation  here; 
but  as  his  right  arm  has  suffered,  and  as  the  same  arm  was  unfor- 
tunately injured  seriously,  some  time  previously  to  this  disaster,  in  a 
duel,  it  is  feared  he  will  have  to  resign  his  situation,  and  return  to 
France.  They  have  a  little  fair-haired,  smiling  daughter,  who  is 
a  wonderful  contrast  t%the  dark-eyed  natives,  as  they  pass  to  and 
fro. 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 

Signal  Instance  of  the  Heroism  of  a  Lady — The  Procession  of  the  Orapion — 
A  Lottery  in  the  Grand  Plaza — How  conducted — Distinguished  Visitors 
— Chorillos — The  Sale  of  "  Almas,"  or  Souls — The  Public  Museum — Por- 
traits of  the  Spanish  Viceroys — Mummies  of  Peruvian  Incas — Beautiful 
stuffed  Birds — Manco  Capac — Who  where  the  first  Incas? — The  Chil- 
dren of  the  Sun — Progress  in  Civilization  of  old  Peru. 

WE  are  still  at  Lima,  waiting  for  the  steamer. 

The  other  day  I  had  a  visit  from  an  English  lady,  residing  here 
now,  who  has  exhibited  such  heroism  and  presence  of  mind  as 
perhaps  hardly  any  one  ever  displayed  before,  under  such  peculiarly 
trying  circumstances.  It  appears  that  the  ship  she  came  out  in  was 
commanded  by  a  very  incompetent,  inexperienced,  and  weak-mind- 
ed captain,  quite  unfit  for  the  situation,  and  always  intoxicated, 
till  at  last  he  became  wholly  and  utterly  incapable  of  managing 

the  ship.  Mrs.  S was  in  deep  mental  affliction  at  the  time, 

but  unhesitatingly  (finding  there  was  no  one  in  the  vessel  who 


390  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

could  take  the  command)  assumed  the  responsibility  of  navigating 
the  ship  herself.  Every  one  knows  how  difficult  the  navigation 
in  going  round  Cape  Horn  is,  yet  this  skillful  and  strong-minded 
lady  succeeded  in  bringing  the  ship  safely  to  Lima,  assisted  only 
by  a  very  youthful  nephew. 

It  might  be  imagined  a  person  who  could  act  thus  would  be 
masculine,  and  rough,  perhaps,  in  deportment  and  manner.  No- 
thing of  the  kind.  This  lady  is  eminently  feminine,  has  a  very 
mild  and  sweet  expression  of  countenance,  and  is  particularly  gen- 
tle and  pleasing.  She  never  alludes  to  the  subject  herself;  but  I 
could  not  resist  one  day  asking  her  a  little  about  it,  though  fearful 
of  awakening  melancholy  recollections  in  her  mind. 

She  spoke  with  the  utmost  modesty  of  her  own  wonderful  per- 
formance ;  and  said,  in  speaking  of  her  arrival  at  Lima  (where 
she  came  to  rejoin  her  husband,  who  had  left  England  previously), 
that,  though  deeply  grateful  to  a  merciful  Providence  for  having 
so  graciously  protected  her  and  her  children,  yet  this  was,  perhaps, 
the  most  painful  moment  of  her  life. 

I  mentioned  that  at  the  time  she  took  lAe  command  of  the  ship 
she  was  in  deep  grief:  she  had  just  lost  an  adored  child,  a  little 
daughter,  who  had  gradually  faded  and  sunk  from  the  time  of 
their  quitting  the  English  shores.  On  their  arrival  at  Callao,  she 
and  her  children  were  on  deck,  anxiously  looking  for  the  husband 
and  the  father  ;  but  she  knew  he  would  miss  the  one  lost  treasure ; 
and  when  she  saw  him  earnestly  gazing  with  growing  anxiety, 
deepening  fast  into  sorrow  and  terror,  as  he  scanned  the  diminished 
group,  she  felt  her  heart  oppressed  almost  to  breaking  within  her. 

The  sweet  simplicity  and  tenderness  with  which  she  related 
these  touching  circumstances  were  most  winning — most  interest- 
ing :  how  evident  was  it  that  that  noble  heart,  undaunted  amid 
terrible  dangers,  was  one  of  the  softest  and  warmest  that  ever  beat 
in  a  woman's  bosom !  This  affecting  tale  has  made  a  deep  im- 
pression in  Lima.  No  wonder  !  How  often  has  conduct  not  half 
as  extraordinary  and  sublime  been  lauded  to  the  skies!  What 
true  courage  was  that  she  displayed  in  conduct  which  demanded 
BO  much  energy,  so  much  promptitude,  decision,  and  self-reliance, 
and  self- forgetf ulness,  too  ! 

As  we  sit  in  our  claraboya'd  drawing-room  here,  we  hear  fre- 
quently a  bell  ringing  in  the  court-yard  just  below,  which  is  a 
thoroughfare.  It  is  the  Host  being  carried  to  some  sick  person. 
The  sound  of  the  bell  is  usually  accompanied  by  a  lugubrious  and 
rather  monotonous  chant.  If  in  the  evening,  a  number  of  attend- 


LOTTERY  IN  THE  GRAND  PLAZA.  391 

ants  (often  Indians  or  negroes)  generally  carry  lanterns,  and  walk 
on  either  side  of  the  procession.  The  priest,  bearing  his  sacred 
charge,  walks  between  these  rows  of  light ;  a  canopy  is  borne 
over  his  head  by  four  boys,  and  a  crowd  of  people  sometimes  fol- 
lows the  procession.  Every  person  remains  uncovered  while  it 
passes,  and  upon  their  knees. 

There  is  one  moment  here,  as  in  most  of  the  South  American 
countries  and  cities,  very  impressive,  fugitive  as  it  is — it  is  the 
moment  of  the  Oration,  when  the  great  cathedral  bell  turns  all 
the  air  to  a  most  heavenly  thunder-music.  Then  every  hat  is 
reverentially  lifted,  and  every  lip  seems  to  tremble  with  a  whis- 
pered word  of  prayer ;  then  the  parent  lays  an  affectionate  hand 
on  the  little  child's  bowed  head ;  and  all  seem,  for  one  brief  mo- 
ment, raised  from  earth,  its  cares,  and  business,  and  interests. 
Even  the  lottery-man,  who  was  hallooing  "  Suerte,  suerte  !"  stops 
at  the  unfinished  word,  and  suddenly  pulls  up  his  curveting  voice 
on  its  haunches  !  Soon  'tis  o'er  ;  and  the  bells  ring  again — again 
— a  joyous  peal.  But  impressive  as  this  looks  to  a  stranger,  there 
is  too  much  reason  to  fear  it  is  a  custom  only  mechanically  fol- 
lowed by  those  who  have  observed  it  continually. 

We  saw  a  curious  sight — to  us  at  least — the  other  evening,  in 
returning  from  a  drive  with  Mrs.  A .  This  was  the  lottery- 
drawing,  which  is  very  formally  conducted,  and  which  takes  place 
in  the  Grand  Plaza,  exactly  opposite  the  cathedral.  A  temporary 
platform  and  apartment  are  erected  there,  which  in  front  are 
open  to  the  public.  lu  the  forepart  of  this  stage  are  to  be  seen 
several  hollow  wooden  globes,  of  a  large  size,  painted  of  a  conspic- 
uous yellow  color,  and  turning  on  the  stands  which  sustain  them 
by  means  of  a  crank.  Into  each  ball  opens  a  little  door,  and  by 
the  side  of  each  of  the  globes  the  different  numbers  that  are  to  go 
into  it  were  exhibited  on  inclined  planes,  so  as  to  be  exposed  to 
the  public  view  :  these  numbers  were  painted  upon  little  flat, 
circular  counters. 

Behind  all  this  display  and  array  sit  three  official-looking  per- 
sons, the  judges,  grave  as  an  equal  number  of  Lord  Chancellors  on 
the  wool-sack  ;  then  three  venerable  old  gentlemen  are  seen  who 
have  to  turn  the  aforesaid  globes ;  and  there  is  a  triad  of  little 
boys  (who,  we  were  informed,  are  orphan  children,  usually  from 
the  Foundling  Hospital — a  curious  education  for  them — this  teach- 
ing the  young  idea  how  to  gamble) ;  and  these  complete  the  dra- 
matis persona . 

Generally,  as  the  expected  hour  approaches,  the  Plaza  becomes 


392  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

gradually  filled.  When  we  passed  through,  the  crowd  was  gath- 
ered densely  around  the  place  where  the  stage  was  erected.  Armed 
soldados,  shovel-hatted  and  cassocked  priests,  friars  barefooted, 
mothers  with  their  children,  women  in  their  curious  incognita, 
the  saya-y-manto,  cavaliers  with  rattling  spurs,  and  ragged  negroes 
with  glittering  teeth ;  and  numbers  of  eager,  staring  individuals, 
in  all  kind  of  dresses,  and  of  many  different  colors  and  complexions, 
stood  around. 

At  the  proper  moment,  the  three  old  Fates  who  turn  the  globes, 
cast  the  numbers  into  them,  on  the  one  side  thousands,  on  the 
other  tens,  and  in  the  middle  hundreds.  These  being  rolled  back- 
ward and  forward  three  or  four  times,  the  doors  are  opened  at  the 
same  moment,  and  each  of  the  little  fellows  appointed  to  the  office 
takes  out  a  number :  he  does  not  look  at  it,  but  holds  it  out  with 
outstretched  hand  to  the  crowd.  Then  the  boys  go  up  to  the 
table,  and  display  the  numbers  to  the  judges,  who  record  them ; 
and  having  given  the  proper  information  to  one  of  the  old  worthies 
who  turn  the  wooden  globes,  he  chants  it  out,  and  announces  the 
possessor  of  the  prize  to  the  motley  assemblage  (who  are  awaiting 
the  decision  of  fortune)  in  a  sonorous  voice. 

Then  the  numbers  are  put  into  the  globes  again,  and  the  self- 
same process  is  repeated,  till  the  whole  of  the  prizes  have  been 
drawn  and  disposed  of.  Then  the  multitude  disperses  ;  away  flit 
the  sayas-y-mantos,  perhaps  with  a  tear  of  disappoinment  clouding 
the  brilliancy  of  the  one  solitary  eye ;  away  trot  tatterdemalions 
on  teetotaller-like  donkeys,  who  look  as  if  they  had  abjured  not 
only  drinking  this  or  that,  but  eating  and  drinking  altogether  ;  and 
off  march  dingy  soldiers,  with  a  fringe  of  rags  adorning  their  mul- 
tiform uniform. 

These  lotteries  belong  to  a  society  called  the  "  Beneficencia,"  and 
their  profits  are  bestowed  on  charitable  institutions  and  hospitals.* 
The  Beneficencia,  I  believe,  farms  the  lottery  out ;  and  in  a  single 
year,  the  sale  of  the  lottery  tickets  brought  about  forty-three  thou- 
sand dollars.  So  fond  are  the  Limanians  of  this  species  of  gam- 
bling, that  at  the  shops  there  are  frequently  little  lotteries  and  raffles. 

Ideas  are  said  to  be  becoming  very  much  liberalized  ;  arid  I 
have  heard  from  good  authority  that  some  of  the  priests  even 
have  lately  shown  a  most  tolerant  and  enlightened  spirit,  and 
have  written  and  preached  in  a  strain  that  evinced  an  extraordi- 
nary change  in  their  once  bigoted  opinions. 

*  There  may  be  educational  establishments  at  Lima.  but.  I  know  of  none. 


DISTINGUISHED  VISITORS.  393 

I  had  a  visit  to-day  from  Monsieur  and  Madame  F ,  and 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  W .  Monsieur  F commands  the  French 

squadron  in  the  Pacific,  and  is  at  Callao  in  his  fine  frigate 
"  L'Algerie  :"  he  is  an  exceedingly  gentlemanlike  and  agreeable 

person,  and  Madame  F is  very  beautiful  and  pleasing  :  she  is 

of  an  Irish  family  and  is  the  niece  of  the  celebrated  Marshal 
Bugeaud.  She  was  married  at  Algiers,  and  now  in  her  husband's 
noble  frigate  "  L'Algerie,"  she  intends  to  go  round  the  world  with 

him.  From  hence  Monsieur  F seems  to  think  they  will 

proceed  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  afterwards  to  China. 

We  dined  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A last  night.  A  Peruvian 

lady  and  her  daughter-in-law  came  in  to  visit  her ;  they  were 
dressed  much  like  two  Parisians,  and  with  many  handsome  jewels. 
The  ladies  retain  their  own  surname  after  marriage.  They  asked 
many  questions  relative  to  Mexico,  and  were  full  of  grace  and 
intelligence  ;  the  younger  one  spoke  French. 

We  had  a  charming  drive  yesterday.  The  streets  seemed 
fuller  and  gayer  than  usual.  The  Lima  winter  is  now  coming  on, 
and  the  weather  is  becoming  very  cool :  the  fashionable  watering- 
place,  Chorillos,  is  quite  deserted.  When  Lima  and  Callao 
happen  to  be  at  war,  which  is  not  a  very  extraordinary  circum- 
stance, Chorillos  is  sometimes  used  by  merchant-ships  as  a  port,  in 
place  of  Callao.  During  the  bathing  season  it  is  said  a  good  deal 
of  gambling  goes  on  there,  and  heaps  of  gold  load  the  gambling- 
tables,  and  large  fortunes  are  risked  and  exchanged  ;  but  Chorillos 
is  now  only  tenanted  by  negroes  and  native  Indians,  and  Lima  is 
full. 

Besides  meeting  numbers  of  handsome  carriages,  we  were  often 
in  danger  of  running  against  large  droves  of  donkeys,  who  are  so 
loaded  and  covered  with  heaps  of  fire-wood,  fagots,  and  immense 
bundles  of  clover,  that  they  look  like  self-moving  stacks,  and  fill  up 
nearly  the  whole  street.  The  foot-passengers  have  to  hurry  out 
of  their  way  at  the  cry  of  the  negro-drivers,  who  shout  "  Ciudado," 
as  they  drive  on  their  little  moving  mountains  of  sticks  and  grass ; 
then  there  are  various  salesmen  and  saleswomen,  the  milk-venders 
and  water  carriers,  and  ail  carrying  their  goods  on.  the  backs  of 
donkeys. 

At  the  corners  of  some  of  the  streets  may  be  seen  certain  pic- 
torial devices,  to  hint  to  survivors  and  mourners  their  obligations, 
to  those  who  have  gone  before  them  to  the  grave,  and  are  supposed 
to  be  suffering  the  pains  of  purgatory.  Representations  of  the 
head  and  upper  part  of  the  human  figure  are  exhibited,  done  to 

K* 


394  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

the  life — or  death — surrounded  by  flames  of  fire.  They  call  these 
mournful  pictures  "  Almas,"  or  souls,  and  they  are  intended  to 
display  the  actual  state  and  position  of  the  unassisted  and  un- 
relieved departed  friends  of  any  of  the  passers-by  who  may  have 
neglected  this  duty. 

These  unpleasant  fancy-portraits  might  produce  lasting  uncom- 
fortable impressions  if  there  were  not  means  at  hand  by  which  the 
situation  of  the  persons  represented  could  be  ameliorated.  Fortu- 
nately all  this  has  been  considerately  taken  into  account :  a  small 
mysterious  box  stands  near  for  the  reception  of  any  sum  the  sur- 
vivors may  like  to  introduce  into  it  for  the  relief  of  the  "  Almas." 

What  crowds  in  the  streets,  and  what  many-colored  crowds 
too  !  The  Negroes,  the  Mestizos,  the  Indians,  Zambos  and  Cho- 
los,  and  some  of  the  more  humble  of  the  olive-colored  descend- 
ants of  the  old  proud  race  of  Castile,  all  go  peaceably  donkeying 
on  together,  and  occasionally  a  fair  North  American  or  Anglo- 
Saxon,  like  Mrs.  P ,  with  her  blue  eyes  and  light-colored  hair, 

goes  vision-like  by.  Verily  there  is  a  great  deal  of  variety  on  all 
sides. 

There  are  so  many  of  our  fair  countrywomen,  and  of  the  lily- 
browed  American  ladies  to  be  seen  from  time  to  time  at  Lima, 
that  I  think  the  makers  and  inserters  of  dolls'  eyes  may  venture 
boldly  to  send  some  blue-eyed  ones  to  South  America.  I  see  the 
"  Morning  Chronicle"  tells  us  that  none  but  black-eyed  puppets 
can  be  imported  here,  because  the  black  orbs  are  universally  the 
wear  in  these  regions  ;  so  those  with  azure  peepers  would  be  looked 
upon  as  unnatural  monsters. 

We  have  been  to  see  the  Public  Museum,  which  we  found 

interesting.  Madame  F was  there,  accompanied  by  one  or 

two  of  the  French  officers.  In  the  room  you  first  enter,  the  eye 
is  struck  by  a  large  number  of  old  portraits,  the  size  of  life  ;  these 
are  the  likenesses  of  the  forty-five  Spanish  Viceroys,  beginning 
with  the  far-famed  Pizarro  :  his  countenance  was  rather  striking. 
They  show  in  the  vaults  beneath  the  cathedral,  a  mouldering 
corpse,  supposed  to  be  that  of  the  Great  Conqueror  of  Peru  ;  but 
it  seems  extremely  doubtful  whether  it  is  so  or  no. 

The  Viceroys  are  dressed  in  different  old  Spanish  costumes, 
showing  the  rise,  progress  and  change  of  fashions.  From  black 
habiliments,  with  lofty,  starched-up  ruffs,  they  advance  into  rich 
and  flourished  embroidery,  thickening  till  it  is  almost  a  golden  armor. 
After  a  while  the  tide  of  this  lustrous  embroidery  ebbs  a  little,  and 
only  besprinkles  lightly  the  extreme  borders  of  the  vestments. 


MUMMIES.— STUFFED  BIRDS.  395 

But  there  is  a  more  touching  and  melancholy  sight  than  this  to 
be  seen  in  the  Museum.  Under  cases  of  glass  are  placed,  in  a 
sitting  or  crouching  posture,  certain  mummies,  exactly  as  they 
were  taken  from  their  ancient  sepulchres.  Their  legs  are  crossed 
and  bent  :  their  stiffened  arms  crossed  over  their  lifeless  breasts, 
with  the  elbows  placed  as  if  resting  upon  the  knees,  and  the 
beardless  chins  are  supported  on  the  hands :  their  teeth — though 
some  few,  if  I  recollect  rightly,  are  missing — were  splendid  still — 

large  superb  rows  of  glittering  ivory  (just  what  Sir  J.  C 

would  have  called  a  magnificent  dinner-set),  and  a  little  fusty 
straggling  hair  yet  adhered  to  their  scalps. 

These  mummies  are  asserted  to  be  those  of  the  ancient  and 
much  civilized  Incas  of  gorgeous  Peru.  Well  may  they  grin  with 
that  sardonic  expression,  after  all  they  have  witnessed  !  Since 
the  overthrow  of  their  own  noble  race,  what  change,  what  per- 
plexity, what  wars,  what  dissensions  ! 

But  Peru  is  beginning  to  feel  the  vitality  of  the  mighty  spirit 
of  the  age  :  and  if  she,  and  the  other  South  American  countries, 
can  learn  in  time  the  difference — the  vast  difference — between 
real  liberty  and  license,  all  may  yet  be  well  with  them,  and 
Nature  may  not  in  vain  have  thrown  all  her  choicest  treasures  at 
the  feet  of  these,  her  spoiled  children. 

There  are  a  great  number  of  hiiacos  (or  images)  and  earthen 
vases,  aboriginal  antiquities,  and  other  curiosities  taken  from  the 
old  Indian  graves,  and  some  sepulchral  vessels  of  solid  gold  and 
silver,  collected  here.  There  is  a  library  in  the  same  edifice,  con- 
taining nearly  thirty  thousand  volumes,  among  which  are  some 
books  of  great  value.  They  are  exceedingly  well  arranged. 

There  were  stuffed  birds  in  another  room  of  the  museum,  to  go 
to  which  we  passed  between  two  of  the  Indian  mummies,  who, 
with  their  brilliant  teeth  exposed,  seemed  grinning  with  a  sort  of 
cadaverous  civility,  and  appeared  like  mournful  guardians  of  the 
display  of  some  of  the  natural  glories  of  their  country.  Stuffed 
birds  of  the  most  dazzlingly  splendid  plumage  are  beautifully  ar- 
ranged here.  All  the  most  vivid  hues  of  the  rainbow  strike  the 
eye,  and  a  few  colors,  it  seemed,  over  and  above  that.  One  bird 
was  quite  preternaturally  resplendent ;  its  wonderful  blaze  of 
feathers  seemed  like  concentrated  essence  of  sapphires,  diamonds, 
carbuncles,  and  all  kinds  of  precious  stones.  There  were  some 
<r>lossal  albatrosses.  These  enormous  birds  on  the  wing  must  look 
a  little  like  flying  elephants  dressed  in  white  muslin. 

After  spending  some  time  pleasantly  in  examining  the  different 


396  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

objects  in  that  interesting  room,  we  took  leave  of  the  sumptuous 
birds  and  the  preserved  Incas,  and  went  to  pay  one  or  two  visits. 

The  first  of  the  Incas  of  Peru  we  have  some  slight  grounds  for 
claiming  as  a  countryman ;  and  to  him  Peru  owed  its  prosperity, 
its  remarkable  advance  in  civilization,  and  the  development  of  its 
industrial  energies. 

Before  the  establishment  of  that  religion,  of  which  Manco  Capac 
was  the  founder,  the  Indian  tribes  of  Peru  were  living  in  the  same 
state  of  savage  barbarism  as  the  other  nations  of  this  race.  They 
subsisted  entirely  on  the  products  of  the  chase,  and  of  their  rude 
fisheries  :  the  vanquished,  in  their  sanguinary  combats,  were  torn 
to  pieces  by  their  ferocious  enemies  when  made  prisoners.  They 
worshiped  the  most  hideous  and  hateful  animals,  and  also  lightnings, 
storms,  gloomy  caverns,  and  frightful  precipices.  Sometimes  they 
would  kneel  in  abject  adoration  before  the  trunks  of  giant  trees,  and 
at  other  times  fling  themselves  down  in  terror-stricken  superstition 
to  worship  the  burning  volcanoes,  whose  raging  fury  was  tearing  up 
the  entrails  of  the  earth,  and  demolishing  their  fragile  altars  and 
false  gods. 

At  length — according  to  the  story,  about  eight  hundred  years 
ago — a  change  took  place,  and  a  stranger,  as  they  believed,  came 
to  them  from  the  sun — but  first  let  us  see  what  the  old  Spanish 
chroniclers  say  of  the  name  of  the  country.  It  is  pretended,  though 
it  can  not  be  known  with  what  truth,  that  the  first  adventurers 
having  found  a  native  fishing  in  a  river,  asked  him  what  the 
country  was  called.  The  terrified  Indian,  not  rightly  understand- 
ing them,  told  them  "  Baru,"  and  "Pelu,"  the  first,  it  is  supposed, 
being  his  own  name,  and  the  latter  the  name  of  rivers  in  general : 
the  Spanish  discoverers  compounded  these  words  into  the  present 
name  of  Peru. 

It  was  very  difficult  for  the  Spaniards  to  ascertain  who  the  first 
sun-worshiping  Incas  really  were.  You  know  that  the  old  native 
tradition  makes  the  original  Inca,  Manco  Capac,  and  his  sister, 
and  spouse,  Oella-huaco,  the  Children  of  the  Sun.  Historians  and 
philosophers,  in  attempting  to  discover  for  them  a  less  supernatural 
and  more  probable  origin,  have  hesitated  whether  to  pronounce 
them  natives  of  Europe  or  Asia. 

Among  conflicting  opinions,  some  have  believed  them  to  be  de- 
scendants of  the  Scandinavians  who  first  are  supposed  to  have  land- 
ed on  the  American  Continent  in  the  eleventh  century ;  others 
again  declare  them  to  have  been  Mongolians  of  the  family  of 
Genghis  Khan,  brought  to  this  coast  by  contrary  winds  and  tempests. 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  SUtf.  397 

Among  other  stories,  the  following  absurd  one  is  related  by 
some  : — An  Englishman,  about  eight  hundred  years  ago,  was 
wrecked  on  the  rich  coast  of  Peru  :  the  chief  who  was  then  reign- 
ing over  barbarous  hordes  of  savages  there,  demanding  who  he 
was,  was  told  in  answer  by  the  shipwrecked  islander  that  he  was 
an  "Englishman."  The  Indians  repeated  the  word  with  a  very 
natural  mispronunciation  (as  the  North  American  Indians  are  said 
to  have  pronounced  English  "  Yankish"  whence  Yankee),  "  Incas- 
man,"  and  they  added  to  this  very  politely,  Cocapac,  or  most  beau- 
tiful, and  made  altogether  Inca-manco-capac.  Probably  the  gen- 
tleman who  v/as  so  complimented  by  the  copper-colored  barbarians, 
rejoiced  in  a  profusion  of  sandy  hair,  unkempt  and  uncut  after  his 
stormy  voyage ;  for  his  golden,  glittering  locks  made  them  think  he 
was  born  of  the  sun's  fire — he  was  worshiped  accordingly. 

Other  accounts,  which  favor  the  belief  that  a  fair-haired  English- 
man and  his  wife  were  shipwrecked  here,  state  that  for  a  length  of 
time  they  hid  themselves  in  the  mountains,  and  after  a  number 
of  years  came  down  to  the  astonished  Indians  with  their  children, 
whose  golden  locks  flowed  luxuriantly  down  their  backs,  and  pro- 
claimed themselves  Children  of  the  Sun,  sent  by  that  considerate 
luminary  to  reign  over  them,  and  teach  them  many  useful  arts. 
They  were  hailed  with  reverential  joy,  and  became  supreme  rulers 
over  the  credulous  people. 

These  enlightened  chiefs  established  a  firm  and  stable  theocratic 
autocracy,  which  bound  every  individual  in  the  country  in  the 
closest  (yet  not  galling)  chains ;  and  from  whatever  source  they 
sprang,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  princely  Incas,  adored  as  sacred 
personages,  and  obeyed  as  temporal  sovereigns,  thoroughly  under- 
stood the  people  over  whom  they  reigned,  and  conferred  upon  them 
the  inestimable  blessings  of  peace  and  of  civilization.  No  means 
were  neglected  by  the  Incas  which  could  secure  their  widely-spread 
influence,  strengthen  their  eminent  position,  and  perpetuate  their 
power.  Not  only  their  own  persons  were  reverenced,  but  all  that 
Avas  in  any  way  connected  with  the  sovereign  dignity,  was  held  in 
such  religious  veneration,  that  any  individual  having  occasion  to 
visit  the  metropolitan  and  imperial  city  of  Cuzco,  was  under  the 
necessity  of  making  profound  obeisances  to  all  those  whom  he  hap- 
pened to  meet  coming  from  it.  Notwithstanding  that  too  many 
highly  interesting  evidences  of  the  progress  the  Peruvians  made 
under  their  energetic  masters  were  ruined  and  destroyed  by  the 
unscrupulous  and  ruthless  invaders,  yet  enough  has  remained  to 
bear  witness  to  the  wonderful  strides  that  wisely-governed  people 


39S  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

made  in  agriculture  and  political  science,  iu  arms,  in  arts,  in  archi- 
tecture, and  in  manufacturing  industry. 

Defaced  though  their  temples  and  other  noble  structures  are, 
still  we  are  told  they  excite  lively  admiration,  and  awaken  a  pleased 
astonishment. 


CHAPTER  L. 

Manco  Capac  and  his  Wife — Their  Instruction  of  the  Peruvians — Old  Peru- 
vian Roads — Bull-fights  at  Lima — Mode  of  conducting  them — Spectators 
at  them — Limanian  Ladies — Beautiful  Specimens  of  Peruvian  Art  and 
Ingenuity — Silver  ornamented  Fruits — Lima  Burial-places — The  Aman- 
caes — The  Fiesta  of  St.  John — The  Valley  of  Amancaes — The  Flower  of 
that  Name — The  Streets  of  Lima  after  the  Fiesta — Concerts  given  by  a 
French  Lady — Fruits  of  Lima — The  Grenadilla — "  Italia" — Custom  of 
washing  Plates  by  the  lower  Orders  in  Lima — The  Gorgonian  Servant — 
"Huacos"  and  other  Curiosities  found  in  Peruvian  Sepulchres — The  "  Se- 
norita" — A  Garden  in  the  Suburbs — Its  numerous  Trees,  Shrubs,  and 
Flowers — Enervating  Climate  of  Lima. 

I  SHOULD  like  much  to  go  to  Cuzco,  but  I  fear  it  would  be  too 
fatiguing  a  journey  for  my  little  girl. 

Probably  the  most  striking  vestiges  of  the  civilization  of  the  an- 
cient inhabitants  of  the  country  are  to  be  found  there.  Manco 
Capac,  the  first  Inca,  taught  the  Indians  to  plow,  to  sow,  and 
also  to  irrigate  the  fields,  which  so  greatly  contributed  to  the  fer- 
tility of  the  land.  His  thrifty  Queen  Consort,  the  fair  Daughter 
of  the  Sun,  did  not  disdain  to  instruct  the  female  part  of  the  popu- 
lation in  the  simple  arts  of  spinning,  carding  wool,  and  making 
clothes  for  themselves  and  their  husbands  and  children  !  The 
rude  altars  erected  to  the  savage  beasts  of  the  field  in  the  forests 
were  demolished  ;  the  chase,  as  a  means  of  subsistence,  was  aban- 
doned ;  the  earth  was  carefully  cultivated,  and  peace  and  content 
smiled  over  the  now  fruitful  and  happy  land.  The  worship  of  the 
sun  was  made  the  ruling  spirit  of  all  their  institutions. 

These  people  were  ignorant  of  the  art  of  writing,  but  they  skill- 
fully preserved  the  memory  of  particular  events  by  bold  paintings, 
and  by  knotted  cords  of  a  variety  of  colors,  in  which  latter  art  they 
were  singularly  expert,  and  showed  great  ingenuity.  They  con- 
structed remarkably  fine  roads  :  the  route  from  Quito  to  Cuzco 
was  five  hundred  leagues  in  length,  and  there  was  another  of 


OLD  PERUVIAN  ROADS.— BULL-FIGHTS.  399 

the  same  extent  that  traversed  the  lower  country,  nearer  to  the 
ocean. 

In  addition  to  these  were  a  great  number  of  other  roads,  inter- 
secting the  empire  of  the  Incas  in  all  directions.  These  roads  are 
described  to  be  of  peculiar  construction,  and  must  have  demanded 
much  labor.  They  were  raised  terraces  of  earth,  generally  about 
forty  feet  broad,  filling  up  the  hollows  of  the  valleys,  and  forming 
a  regular  level  way.  At  intervals  along  these  superb  roads  were 
to  be  seen  stately  temples,  hospices  and  Peruvian  caravansaries 
(open  at  all  times  and  seasons  to  wayfarers  and  travelers),  arsenals, 
fortresses,  and  villages. 

It  is  imposssible  not  to  feel  indignant  at  reading  the  recital  of 
the  barbarous  conduct  of  the  old  Spaniards  toward  this  noble,  civ- 
ilized and  inoffensive  people.  A  late  Spanish  writer  has  ingeniously 
attempted  (while  acknowledging  the  melancholy  facts,  which  he 
candidly  confesses  are  too  clearly  substantiated  for  him  to  dispute), 
to  prove  that  these  black  deeds  were  the  crimes  of  the  Age,  and 
not  of  the  Spanish  nation.  There  is  undoubtedly  some  truth  in 
this,  but  not  quite  so  much,  it  is  to  be  feared,  as  the  accomplished 
author  would  fain  himself  evidently  believe. 

I  should  perhaps  have  been  tempted  for  once  to  go  to  a  bull-fight 
here,  but  none  have  taken  place  since  we  have  been  sojourning  at 
Lima.  They  are  said  to  very  superior  to  those  at  Havana,  which 
are  miserable,  and  only  attended  by  the  lowest  of  the  populace ; 
horses  of  the  most  wretched  description,  quite  broken  down,  and 
staggering  from  weakness,  alone  being  used  there,  and  the  whole 
spectacle  painful  and  horrible.  In  Havana,  the  elite  of  society  are 
too  fastidious  and  refined  to  tolerate  bull-baiting  ;  here,  on  the  con- 
trary, it  is  generally  allowed  to  be  brilliant  and  well-appointed, 
for  all  Lima  attends  it ;  and  for  a  few  days  before  it  actually  takes 
place,  the  excitement  and  state  of  joyous  anticipation  into  which 
the  Peruvian  capital  is  thrown,  is  described  as  being  intense. 

On  the  morning  of  the  gala  day,  a  gay  procession  parades  all  the 
principal  streets  of  Lima,  exhibiting  to  the  admiring  gaze  of  the 
multitude  the  splendid  equipments  by  which  the  victims  are  to  be 
adorned  when  they  make  their  appearance  in  the  ring,  and  also 
displaying,  for  the  inspection  of  the  curious,  some  of  the  ingenious 
instruments  by  which  the  poor  creatures  are  to  be  tormented.  This 
procession  is  accompanied  by  a  band  of  music,  ordinarily  consisting 
of  some  decrepit  clarionets  and  valetudinarian  flutes  and  flageolets, 
in  various  states  and  stages  of  infirmity,  and  one  or  two  superan- 
nuated drums. 


400  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

After  these,  are  borne,  stretched  out  on  ornamented  frames,  the 
rich  coverings  of  gaudy  silk,  all  glittering  with  spangles,  and  foil 
and  tinsel,  which  are  to  be  thrown  on  the  backs  of  the  bulls  ;  then 
come,  attached  to  poles,  carried  by  boys,  the  short,  sharp  spikes 
which  are  intended  to  be  thrust  into  the  bodies  of  the  enraged 
animals.  Each  of  these  is  brilliantly  decorated  with  fanciful  fig- 
ures of  various  kinds,  cut  out  in  gilt  and  bright-colored  paper, 
and  ingeniously  enveloped  in  light,  airy,  net-work  balloons.  Fol- 
lowing these,  come  the  most  prominent  objects  of  the  procession — 
three  or  four  figures  of  the  size  of  life,  or  larger,  which  are  carried 
high  above  the  heads  of  the  gaping  crowd. 

These  enormous  puppets  or  images  are  hollow,  and  are  formed 
of  reeds,  with  an  outward  covering  of  painted  paper,  and  contain 
a  quantity  of  explosive  fireworks.  These  figures  are  placed  in  the 
arena,  and  of  course  are  attacked  by  the  bull,  and  by  their  explo- 
sions, help  to  increase  his  rage  and  fury.  Sometimes  a  negro  or 
mulatto  is  represented  in  an  absurd  attitude,  and  ridiculously  ac- 
coutred ;  sometimes,  an  English  cottage-girl,  such  as  you  see  in  old 
prints,  in  the  pretty  costume  of  past  days,  with  a  gipsy  bonnet  on 
her  head,  and  a  flower-basket  on  each  arm ;  and  occasionally  a 
London  or  Parisian  dandy  is  exhibited,  preposterously  caricatured. 
They  sometimes  put  dwarfs  in  little  pits  in  the  ring,  with  enormous 
head-dresses  of  red  and  yellow  feathers ;  the  feathers  dip  arid  dis- 
appear when  the  bull  rushes  at  them,  to  his  great  surprise. 

Thus  are  the  people  wound  up  to  a  proper  pitch  of  enthusiastic 
expectation ;  and  when  the  day  cornes,  all  is  animation  and  delight. 
The  vast  uncovered  amphitheatre  where  the  bull-fights  take  place, 
is  at  the  farthest  extremity  of  one  of  the  Alamedas.  It  is  sur- 
rounded with  a  vast  number  of  boxes  and  benches,  and  is  capable  of 
accommodating,  with  comfort  and  security,  many  thousand  persons. 

la  the  middle  of  the  arena  there  is  a  little  inclosure  of  posts. 
This  inclosure  is  of  a  circular  shape,  and  the  posts  are  near  enough 
together  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  the  bull ;  while  a  man,  if  in 
imminent  danger,  can  with  facility  introduce  himself  between  them, 
and  there  remain  in  safety. 

When  the  time  approaches  for  the  exhibition,  the  populace,  in 
dense  multitudes,  stream  toward  the  amphitheatre,  along  the 
beautiful  "  Alameda  del  Acho,"  beneath  whose  over-shadowing 
trees  the  Indian  female  stall-keepers  sell  "  picante,"  and  "  chicha," 
and  the  native  brandy,  "  pisco." 

Ladies  are  seen  rapidly  dashing  past  in  their  handsome  "ber- 
linas,"  or  "  volantas  ;"  cavaliers  go  caracoling  along  on  their  fiery 


PERUVIAN  INGENUITY.  401 

steeds,  which  are  decked  out  with  silver-embossed  and  glittering 
trappings ;  and  the  huge  amphitheatre  is  soon  overflowingly  crowd- 
ed with  spectators  of  all  ages,  sizes,  classes  and  colors,  and  with  a 
fair  sprinkling  of  inquisitive  visitors  from  distant  countries,  too ; 
and  the  boxes  are  resplendent  with  thousands  of  bright  eyes,  and 
vividly-colored  shawls,  and  with  the  rich  gold-embroidered  uniforms 
of  military  officers. 

Some  saya-y-mantos  appear  among  the  lovely  crowd  of  Senoras ; 
the  open  benches  are  filled  with  Indians,  negroes,  soldiers,  peasants, 
zambos,  cholos,  &c.  Three  or  four  bulls  are  generally  sacrificed, 
and  then  the  sport  terminates ;  and  the  crowd — of  course  greatly 
edified — wend  their  way  back  again  to  their  splendid  mansions  in 
the  capital,  or  their  rustic  "  chacras"  (Indian  cottages)  in  the 
neighboring  hamlets. 

We  dined  again  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A ,  whose  kind  and 

friendly  attentions  are  unceasing.  After  dinner,  a  Limanian  lady 
came  in,  who  seemed  a  highly  refined  and  sensible  person,  and  who 
is  considered  one  of  the  most  accomplished  and  intellectual  of  the 
ladies  in  this  capital.  Her  complexion  was  extraordinarily  dark ; 
so  that  indeed  I  took  her  at  first  for  an  Indian.  She  is  a  person 
of  much  distinction,  and  of  pure  Castilian  descent,  I  believe. 

We  had  several  opportunities  of  seeing  the  ladies  of  the  coun- 
try at  Mrs.  A 's  little  soirees :  they  have  generally  glorious 

eyes,  and  their  skins  are  not  darker  than  those  of  Spanish  women. 
On  Sunday,  after  the  service  at  the  little  English  chapel  of  the 
Legation,  a  number  of  mantilla'd  Peruvian  ladies  came  to  pay 
the  fair  mistress  of  the  mansion  a  visit.  Among  them  were  two 
Guayaquil  ladies,  both  very  handsome,  with  very  delicate,  and 
exquisitely  fair  complexions,  extremely  regular  features,  and  eyes 
like  black  suns — if  such  a  simile  may  be  allowed.  Their  manners 
were  as  prepossessing  as  their  appearance. 

Mr.  Yates,  an  English  gentleman  from  Liverpool,  who  is  ac- 
quainted with  one  of  my  brothers,  called  the  other  day,  and  brought 
a  large  number  of  beautiful  specimens  of  Peruvian  art  and  ingenu- 
ity, to  show  us.  Quantities  of  dried  fruit  were  among  the  articles ; 
these  were  most  fantastically  decorated  and  framed  with  sparkling 
silver ;  some  so  delicately  done,  that  the  still  naturally-colored 
fruit  seemed  to  be  embossed  with  glittering  drops  of  the  diamond- 
dew  of  morning.  Mr.  Yates  is  going  to  send  these  curiosities  to 
his  daughter  in  England  :  he  is  married  to  a  Danish  lady  whom 
he  first  met  at  Lima.  He  is  here  now  on  business  of  importance, 
which  is  under  the  consideration  of  Congress  at  present. 


402  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

The  silver-ornamented  fruits  I  have  described,  it  is  customary 
for  persons  in  society  to  present  to  one  another  on  feast  days,  and 
occasions  of  rejoicing,  a  pretty  and  graceful  little  attention.  The 
most  elaborately-wrought  specimens  are  usually  made  by  the  nuns. 
Among  other  things,  were  some  exquisitely-finished  peacocks  and 
flowers,  in  whose  construction  the  fair  artists  displayed  extraordi- 
nary skill.  Mr.  Yates  and  Mrs.  S have  presented  us  with 

some  of  the  silver-encased  fruits,  but  I  fear  the  silver  will  turn 
black  during  our  journey  across  the  Isthmus,  which  is  at  this 
time  of  year  the  reverse  of  Lima  :  here  there  is  no  rain,  and  there 
it  is  all  rain. 

Mrs.  S gave  me  a  sad  and  sickening  account  of  a  visit  to 

one  of  the  burying-places  here  ;  it  reminded  me  much  of  the  hor- 
rors of  the  Campo  Santo  at  Naples.  She  said  ,in  one  case,  where 
there  was  some  obstruction  to  its  free  passage,  the  body  of  a  child 
was  cut  up,  and  thrown  down  into  the  vile  receptacle  for  the 
perishing  remains  of  humanity  in  separate  parcels,  wrapped  up  in 
the  torn  shroud  or  some  old  rags  of  linen :  however,  so  long  as  we 
continue  our  detestable  system  of  intra-mural  interments  in  our 
own  metropolis,  an'd  have  fetid  church-yards  in  its  most  crowded 
haunts  (so  frequently  desecrated  when  fresh  candidates  for  admis- 
sion are  brought  to  the  reeking  soil),  we  should  be  indulgent  on 
such  matters. 

We  have  been  to  see  the  Amancaes,  a  famous  place,  and  a 
famous  flower,  and  a  famous  fiesta.  The  place  is  a  valley  some 
three  or  four  miles  from  Lima,  between  wild  and  rugged  mount- 
ains, looking  down  upon  the  city  and  upon  the  Pacific,  and  with 
the  towering  snow-capped  Andes  for  its  colossal  back-ground. 
The  flower  is  a  golden-colored  species  of  lily  ;  and  the  fiesta  that 
of  "St.  John's  Day  ;  a  few  days  previously  to  which,  and  sometimes 
on  the  very  day,  arises  and'blossoms  brightly  to  adorn  the  chosen 
spot,  this  consecrated  flower.  It  is  popularly  believed  that, 
although  up  to  the  day  before  "  St.  John's  Day,"  or  even  on  the 
very  eve  of  "  St.  John,"  not  a  single  flower  of  the  Yellow  Aman- 
caes may  be  discernible,  yet  on  the  hallowed  morning,  the  flower 
will  punctually  appear  to  gild  these  previously  sterile  regions. 

The  weather  was  very  delightful,  and  the  Andes  gloriously 

visible  in  all  their  majesty,  the  day  that  Mrs.  A was  kind 

enough  to  take  us  there  in  her  carriage.  Mrs.  W and  her 

sister  also  went.  Madame  F was  with  them  in  their  hand- 
some equipage,  which  Mr.  W drove  himself,  and  a  small  cav- 
alcade of  gentlemen  joined  in  the  excursion. 


THE  VALLEY  OF  AMANCAES.  403 

The  feast  being  on  the  24th  of  June,  is  fast  approaching  now, 
but  we  shall  perhaps  be  gone  before  it  arrives.  The  scene  is 
described  as  being  very  singular,  and  characteristic  of  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  people  :  thousands  pour  along  the  Alameda  de 
los  Descalsos  on  the  great  day  of  jubilee.  At  the  spot  where  the 
road  enters  into  the  mouth  of  the  valley,  two  chapels  are  tem- 
porarily erected,  covered  with  floating  streamers  arid  banners,  and 
gay  flaunting  ribbons,  and  each  is  made  for  the  time  the  habitation 
of  a  saint,  arrayed  in  refulgent  robes.  This  is  for  the  purpose  of 
collecting  contributions  from  those  whose  hearts  and  hands  are 
expected  to  be  expanded  and  open  under  the  influence  of  the  joy- 
ous time,  when  the  tide  of  excitement  and  exhilaration  is  flowing 
high,  and  all  is  glad  emotion  and  anticipation. 

The  pedestrians  and  equestrians,  and  those  who  are  rolling  in 
their  gay  carriages  to  the  selected  spot,  are  eagerly  surrounded  by 
noisy  groups  of  men,  women  and  children,  thrusting  little  plates 
toward  them,  and  indefatigably  importuning  them  for  money. 
The  celebrated  valley  of  Amancaes,  gradually  narrowing  between 
the  mountainous  walls,  which  are  seen  abutting  irregularly  upon 
it,  terminates  almost  in  a  point  in  the  upper  part.  At  this  ex- 
tremity, a  mile  distant  or  thereabouts,  numerous  clusters  of  booths 
are  placed  (all  decorated  with  flags  and  emblematical  devices), 
and  these  are  but  too  abundantly  supplied  with  the  native  brandy, 
and  chicha  and  italia.  The  lily  grows  in  profusion  among  the 
neighboring  hills,  as  well  as  in  the  valley  ;  and  eager  groups  of 
people  set  out  through  the  day  on  exploring  parties  and  come  back 
laden  with  the  golden-colored  spoils  of  their  adventures. 

If  none  of  the  yellow  lilies  are  actually  growing  on  the  ground, 
still  it  is  half-covered  with  bunches  and  garlands  of  them,  brought 
from  any  place  where  it  has  happened  to  spring  up ;  and  the 
flower-hunters  are  to  be  seen  profusely  adorned  with  the  glistening 
blossoms,  while  the  prancing  steeds  of  many  of  them  are  also  sim- 
ilarly decorated,  and  look  like  moving  bowers,  their  superb  capari- 
sons being  overlaid  with  these  blooming,  glowing  gems.  The 
scene  must  be  altogether  a  very  striking  one  :  hundreds  of  splendid 
equipages  are  seen  in  all  directions,  filled  with  the  fairest  flowers 
of  Lima — who  are  not  by  any  means  yellow  lilies  ;  but  on  whose 
dark  and  richly-braided  locks  the  golden  flowers  show  to  great 
reciprocal  advantage. 

The  servants  who  attend  these  brilliant  carriages  are  often 
clothed  in  very  handsome  liveries,  covered  with  gold  and  silver 
lace,  which  might  a  little  recall  remembrances  of  the  Queen's 


404  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

drawing-room  days  in  London,  and  the  state  liveries  that  then 
make  their  appearances  in  the  thronged  streets ;  but  the  Lima 
horsemen's  saddles  and  bridles,  enriched  with  real,  and  beautifully 
wrought  silver,  attract  more  a  stranger's  unaccustomed  eye. 

Tapadas  are  said  to  be  generally  very  numerous  on  these  occa- 
sions, their  brilliant  rainbowed  scarfs,  fluttering  and  gleaming  in . 
studied  negligence,  and  the  one-gun  battery  of  the  single  exposed 
eye,  doing  great  execution.  A  wild  national  dance  is  usually  per- 
formed here,  and  a  wilderness  of  guitars  is  continually  tinkling, 
and  sounding  cheerily  and  sweetly. 

Hark  !  Suddenly  sounds  the  vesper  bell :  like  bounding  silver  balls 
from  silver  cannon,  with  thrilling  awful  power,  come  the  mighty 
tones  from  the  peerless  bell  of  the  Lima  Cathedral.  The  people 
stream  back  through  the  willow- skirted  walks  and  road  of  the 
Alameda  de  los  Descalsos,  on  either  side  of  which  lights  are  gayly 
sparkling  through  the  windows  of  the  houses  which  look  upon  it — 
but  the  Feast  of  the  Amancaes  is  over.  The  preparations  for  the  cel- 
ebration of  this  festival  were  perceptible  on  the  day  we  drove  there. 
We  remained  for  some  time  entranced  with  the  extreme  beauty 
of  the  extensive  view.  I  had  not  before  seen  Lima  in  its  fullest 
splendor.  The  day  was  brilliantly  fine,  and  it  looked  like*  an  en- 
chanted city  dominating  the  ocean,  and  with  a  host  of  white-crest- 
ed tributary  mountains  standing  behind  its  throne.  What  a  noble 
sight  it  was :  it  almost  appeared  to  be  a  city  all  of  temples  and 
sacred  edifices.  So  innumerable  seemed  its  domes  and  steeples, 
pinnacles,  and  spires,  one  could  hardly  believe  such  things  go  on 
within  its  walls  as  bull-baits  and  cock-fights. 

Then  how  glorious  looked  the  blue,  calm,  unbounded  Pacific  at 
its  feet !  so  still,  as  if  it  felt  the  hushing  influence  of  these  hallow- 
ed temples :  its  smooth,  shining  surface  looked  like  the  vast  floor 
of  a  colossal  cathedral,  whose  towers  were  the  giant  Andes,  and 
^whose  roof  the  purple  heavens  of  the  South.     Even  charming  little 

Gemma,  Mrs.  A 's  sweet  little  girl,  seemed  impressed  with 

the  awful  beauty  of  the  scene,  and  her  lovely  infantine  countenance 
looked  grave  and  thoughtful. 

With  many  a  last  admiring  look  at  the  sublime  scene — on  one 
side  at  the  high-soaring  peaks  of  the  gigantic  Cordillera,  and  on 
the  other  at  the  almost  innumerable  towers  and  turrets  and  ter- 
races, and  spires  and  steeples,  and  cupolas  and  convents  of  the 
city,  partly  embosomed  in  romantic  and  beautiful  gardens  and  in 
umbrageous  sylvan  groves,  and  at  the  ocean  of  oceans,  the  wide- 
spreading  Pacific  that  with 


CROWDED  STEETS.  405 


"  Soft  swelling  waves, 
A  thousand  bright  islands  eternally  laves — " 

with  many  a  feeling  of  regret  we  left  that  lovely  valley  of  the 
Amancaes,  lovely  not  in  its  own  self,  without  the  flowery  enrobing 
of  its  famous  golden  lily,  but  for  the  consummate  beauty  of  the 
views  it  presents  on  all  sides  ;  and  we  drove  again  through  the  wil- 
lowy avenues  of  the  Alarneda  de  los  Descalsos,  after  passing  many 
flourishing  groves,  and  fields,  and  plantations  of  the  busy  suburbs. 
The  streets  looked  very  gay  and  animated  as  we  drove  back  to 
the  French  Hotel.  We  met  hosts  of  ladies  taking  the  air  in  their 
carnages  ;  others  were  sitting  in  those  broad  piazzas,  which  have 
such  a  pretty  effect  with  their  Oriental-looking  jalousies ;  and 
crowds  of  pedestrians — militars,  civicos,  and  saya-y-mantos  were 
thronging  the  trottoirs.  Undisturbed  by  the  multitudes,  some  of 
the  gallianzos  were  comfortably  perched  along  the  sides  of  the  riv- 
ulets that  flow  through  the  streets  of  Lima.  These  birds  are  the 
sopilotes  of  Peru,  and  they  fly  about  the  town  unmolested,  nay, 
encouraged,  perfectly  tame  and  at  home  every  where. 

The  running  streams  I  have  mentioned  are  conveyed  by  con- 
duits from  the  river  Rimac,  and  flow  not  only  through  all  the 
main  arteries  and  chief  thoroughfares  of  the  city,  but  also  through 
nearly  all  the  lesser  streets.  They  must  contribute  very  consider- 
ably to  the  healthfulness  and  cleanliness  of  the  town.  As  you 
drive  along  the  "  calles,"  every  niche  and  nook,  and  corner  and 
crevice,  seem  to  be  occupied  by  some  petty  trader,  busily  disposing 
of  his  and  her  small  wares. 

Before  the  bull-fights  take  place,  it  is  the  fashion  here,  on  the 
day  previous  to  the  sport,  to  suspend  immense  and  conspicuous 
signs  containing  programmes  of  the  spectacle,  at  the  entrance  of 
the  portales,  or  arcades ;  these  flourished  advertisements  are  gene- 
rally painted  on  linen  or  muslin,  stretched  over  frames  of  light 
wood ;  and  sometimes  the  approaching  cock-fight  is  announced  bj 
pictured  placards  of  equally  portentous  appearance  and  dimensions. 
Boys  also  are  sent  round  with  printed  and  illustrated  hand-bills, 
and  cards  of  the  coming  sport ;  and  it  is  frequently  pompously  an- 
nounced that  the  judge  will  be  the  chief-intend  ant  of  the  police. 
The  watchmen  recite  a  long  history  here  in  crying  the  hour — thus 
it  runs  :  "  Ave  Maria  Santissirna,  las  doce  (or  whatever  hour  it 
may  be)  han  dado  :  Vira  Peru,  y  Sereno." 

A  few  evenings  ago  at  Mrs.  A — — 's,  the  conversation  happened 
to  turn  upon  the  debate  in  our  Parliament  on  the  bill  for  legaliz- 
ing marriages  between  brothers  and  sisters-in-law.  A  Peruvian 


406  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

gentleman  who  was  there  asked,  apparently  in  much  astonish- 
ment, if  that  was  forbidden  in  England  :  he  was  told  it  was. 
"  Hombre  !"  he  exclaimed,  "  es  posible  V  and  proceeded  to  tell  us 
a  friend  of  his  had  married  three  sisters  in  succession.  They  must 
have  procured  dispensations  from  the  Pope,  of  course. 

There  have  been  concerts  lately  given  here  by  a  French  lady, 
who  has  been  starring  it  in  India  and  China,  I  believe !  The  place 
where  the  concerts  are  given  is  so  near  our  hotel  that  we  can  hear 
a  little  of  the  strains  of  the  songstress  and  her  assistants,  without 
moving  from  our  chairs :  they  have  failed  here,  I  am  told.  The 
opera  season  has  not  yet  begun  in  Lima.  They  have  frequently 
a  very  good  company,  I  believe,  and  the  "  palcos"  are  thronged 
with  ladies  superbly  attired,  and  sometimes  glittering  with  a  per- 
fect armor  and  panoply  of  jewels,  if  report  speaks  truth. 

I  sent  down  some  days  ago  to  our  fruitseller,  under  the  great 
gateway,  for  some  of  those  frozen  apples  we  saw  at  Callao.  She 
sent  up  a  number  of  apples,  that  to  outward  appearance  were  pre- 
cisely the  same ;  but  on  cutting  them  in  two,  we  found  they  had 
either  thawed,  or  had  never  been  frozen  at  all !  We  have  been 
told  since,  that  while  only  one  species  of  apple  ever  presents  this 
appearance,  yet  you  can  never  be  sure  that  these  will  do  so  till 
you  have  opened  them :  it  perhaps  depends  on  the  different  stages 
of  ripeness  in  the  fruit.  The  vegetables  and  fruit  here  are  mostly 
excellent ;  the  aguacates  are  exquisite  ;  we  have  them  constantly 
at  breakfast :  they  seem  to  hold  a  place  between  a  vegetable  and 
a  fruit.  Then  we  have  pine-apples,  melons,  oranges,  cherimoyas, 
grenadillas,  pears,  and  hundreds  of  other  delicious  fruits.  (Near- 
ly all  the  tropical  fruits  however, --except  aguacates,  I  confess 
with  deep  penitence,  I.  think  detestable — too  rich  usually  for  hot 
countries.) 

Among  the  vegetables,  are  cabbages,  yuccas,  potatoes  (sweet ; 
^nd  Irish,  as  they  call  our  common  potato),  tomatoes,  pumpkins, 
radishes,  beans,  and  peas,  and  numerous  others.  The  cherimoya 
is  a  very  great  favorite  here,  and  I  believe  I  am  in  a  minority  of 
one  in  not  liking  it :  it  is  called  the  queen  of  fruits.  In  size  and 
shape  it  bears  outwardly  some  resemblance  to  a  very  large  pear ; 
the  rind  is  rather  rugged,  and  of  a  color  between  brown  and  green. 
It  is  supposed  that  this  queenly  fruit  is  pre-eminently  excellent  at 
Lima :  it  is  commonly  eaten  with  a  spoon ;  the  rich  pulp  is  white 
and  saccharine,  and  not  unlike  an  aromatic  and  creamy  custard. 
The  more  I  tried  to  like  them  the  more  I  abominated  them — I 
can't  exactly  say  why. 


WASHING  PLATES.  407 


The  cherimoya  is  the  "  Doctor  Fell"  of  fruits  for  me.  Perhaps 
one  reason  may  be,  it  has  so  much  pretension  about  it,  that  if  you 
are  disposed  not  to  approve,  your  dislike  becomes  hatred.  The 
grenadilla  is  better,  selon  moi,  and  more  refreshing ;  the  inside  is 
like  a  large  heap  of  the  ripest  interiors  of  gooseberries.  They  have 
raisins  brought  here  from  Pisco,  as  well  as  "  italia,"  which  raisins 
are  excellent,  by  the  way. 

Italia  is  not  like  the  common  drink,  called  "pisco."  The  italia 
derives  its  name  from  the  circumstance  of  its  being  made  from  an 
exquisite  grape  imported  originally  from  Italy,  and  extremely  im- 
proved by  the  climate  of  the  new  country,  or  probably  by  some 
difference  in  the  cultivation. 

The  present  President  of  Peru  is  a  Cholo.  He  was  reproached 
at  the  time  of  his  election  with  so  being  :  he  is,  by  all  accounts,  a 
firm,  strong-minded  man,  not  at  all  disposed  to  yield  to  popular 
clamor,  and  brave  as  a  lion.  During  one  of  the  Pronunciamientos 
here,  he  made  his  appearance  in  the  public  square,  exposing  him- 
self with  the  utmost  confidence  to  the  infuriated  people,  something 
a  la  Empereur  Nicholas,  and  he  so  charmed  and  awed  them  by 
his  gallant  and  dauntless  bearing,  that  not  a  finger  was  lifted 
against  him. 

"We  dined  a  few  days  ago  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  P .  They 

have  a  very  pretty  and  good-sized  house  in  the  Calle  de  Guadaloupe, 
an  immense  distance  from  our  hotel ;  but  our  obliging  host  sent  for 
a  carriage  (a  hired  one)  for  us,  and  we  gladly  mounted  this  lofty 
vehicle,  which  was  gayly  decorated  with  yellow  silk  lining  in  the 
interior,  and  proceeded  at  a  most  funereal  pace  to  the  abode  of  our 
friend.  Whether  our  driver  had  a  particular  fancy  for  crossing 
and  recrossing  the  little  rivulets  in  the  middle  of  the  streets  or 
whether  this  carriage  was  in  itself  rough,  I  knew  not  precisely, 
but  there  was  certainly  a  great  deal  of  jolting  and  jarring — per- 
haps the  driver  thought  a  little  exercise  before  dinner  was  good 
for  our  healths. 

Some  of  the  humbler  orders  of  Lima  Senoras  have  a  curious 
little  unsophisticated  custom  of  their  own,  which  is  decidedly 
original :  it  is  washing  the  plates,  and  glasses,  and  dishes  from 
their  dinner-tables  in  the  gutters  of  the  streets.  Now,  although 
the  waters  of  the  Rimac  are  as  clear  as  crystal  when  dashing  over 
their  pebbly  bed,  they  are  doomed  to  experience  in  their  peregri- 
nations through  the  Lima  calles  the  truth  of  the  proverb  that  says, 
"  Evil  communications  corrupt  good  manners ;"  and  these  con- 
taminated currents  most  abundantly  testify  to  this  fact.  I  should 


408  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

therefore  think  the  flavor  of  the  "  caldo,"  or  of  their  favorite  fiery 
red-pepper  sauce  itself,  can  not  be  much  improved  by  their  contact 
with  these  gutter-washed  platters. 

It  is  quite  affecting  to  hear  the  ladies  in  Lima  (I  mean  in  gen- 
eral our  own  country-women)  lamenting  over  the  difficulty  of 
keeping  any  maid-servants  here  now,  as  they  all  go  to  California, 
the  male  emigrants  being  anxious  to  provide  themselves  with'emi- 
grantesses  :  in  short,  hard-working  wives,  to  cook,  and  wash,  and 
take  care  of  their  homes.  Some  of  the  ladies  pathetically  dilated 
on  their  misfortunes,  and  one  told  me  she  had  taken  care  to  en- 
gage a  most  undeniable  Gorgon,  and  she  expatiated  on  the  poor 
woman's  ugliness,  as  an  admirer  might  do  on  the  charms  of  his 
fair  one : 

"  So  exquisitely  and  deliciously  hideous  she  was  !  such  blubber 
lips !  such  goggle,  boiled-mackerel  eyes !  such  a  squat  nose,  with 
such  wide,  horrible  nostrils"  (something  like  the  prompter's  box 
at  the  opera,  by  her  description)  !  "  and  such  a  villainous  complex- 
ion, and  old  as  the  Andes  nearly  !"  And  this  chosen  and  selected 
star  and  wonder  disappeared  sooner  than  the  rest. 

A  handsome  young  carpenter  persuaded  the  goggle-eyed  dame 
to  visit  El  Dorado  as  his  spouse  ;  and  the  astonishment  and  indig- 
nation of  the  bereaved  lady  knew  no  bounds.  It  seems  that  the 
emigrants  do  not  care  quite  so  much  for  looking  at  pretty  faces,  in. 
their  new  distant  homes,  as  having  hard-working,  industrious, 
managing  wives ;  good  housewives,  who  will  cook  and  wash,  and 
drudge,  and  keep  their  houses  tidy  and  comfortable. 

If  the  lady  had  tried  to  find  a  beauty  instead,  she  would  perhaps 
have  acted  more  wisely,  for  the  belle  would  have  been  far  more 
difficile,  to  begin  with ;  and  would  have  looked  with  horror  at  the 
prospects  of  the  hardships  and  drudgery  which  the  wives  of  miners 
and  adventurers  in  California  have  constantly  to  undergo.  It 
was  a  mistake,  decidedly.  I  dare  say,  too,  that  goggle-eyed  Gorgon 
thought  more  of  her  appearance,  and  was  more  conceited  than  a 
beauty  would  have  been  ;  it  is  so  often  the  case. 

Mrs.  S ,  whom  we  went  to  see  a  little  while  ago,  has  given 

us  some  charming  old  "  huacos,"  which  are  warranted  to  be  really 
from  the  sepulchres  of  the  ancient  Sun-worshipers.  One  of  them 
has  strange  marks  and  hieroglyphics  on  it,  and  a  curious  monkey- 
like  little  monster  on  the  handle.  She  also  kindly  gave  me  some 
of  the  pieces  of  cloth  found  in  those  old  tombs,  remnants  belonging 
to  the  shrouds  or  dresses  in  which  the  mummies  were  found 
wrapped, 


CURIOSITIES.  409 


The  ancient  places  of  interment  were  generally  vaults,  built  of 
adobes.  With  the  bodies  are  frequently  found  gold  ornaments, 
and  other  treasures  :  the  wrappings  and  draperies  of  the  mummies 
are  found  occasionally  most  splendidly  dyed  and  embroidered,  and 
often  exhibit  considerable  artistical  taste  and  manufacturing  skill. 
There  are  belts,  with  balls  and  tassels,  mats,  sacks,  and  other 
articles,  usually  scattered  about  the  vaults  in  great  abundance. 

I  have  read  a  description  of  one  fragment  that  appears  to  be  an 
allegorical  design.  It  was  the  representation  of  a  beautiful  butter- 
fly, with  its  rich  wings  outstretched,  as  if  flying,  or  about  to  fly. 
The  colors  were  light  red,  and  azure,  and  white,  and  a  glowing, 
golden  brown,  and .  apparently  carefully  imitated  from  nature. 
This  butterfly  was  displayed  on  a  deep  ground  of  crimson.  Sure- 
ly it  was  meant  to  represent  the  enfranchised  soul,  in  the  manner 
of  the  classical  ancients. 

It  is  said  there  are  some  small  bags  found  in  numbers  in  the 
vaults,  that  are  made  of  cotton,  hair,  or  wool.  Sometimes  they 
are  fringed,  and  otherwise  decorated  ;  they  are  generally  sewn  up, 
and  inclose  often  tufts  of  hair,  dark-colored  pebbles,  and  little 
bunches  of  parti-colored  feathers.  The  fragment  of  cloth  Mrs. 
S so  oblingly  gave  me,  was  quite  recently  taken  from  a  mum- 
my ;  the  colors  are  still  clear ;  they  are  brown,  figured  over  with  red ; 
the  figures  are  not  very  unlike  some  of  those  hieroglyphics  on  the 
earthern  vessels  I  have  mentioned.  The  material  is  of  immense 
thickness,  almost  equal  to  that  of  a  carpet ;  it  is  in  excellent  pres- 
ervation. There  is  a  curious  war-sling,  given  to  me  by  the  same 
kind  friend,  which  is  still  in  use  among  the  wild  Indians  in  the 
interior  of  Peru ;  it  is  very  strongly  and  neatly  made. 

Mrs.  S has  an  exceedingly  handsome  house  ;  a  two-storied 

one,  with  immense  galleries,  and  covered  balconies.  These  balco- 
nies are  magnificent ;  they  are  furnished  and  carpeted.  They 
afford  such  an  excellent  view,  that  during  "  dias  de  fiesta,"  they 
are  crowded  by  the  friends  and  acquaintances  of  the  amiable  mis- 
tress of  the  mansion.  I  have  received  a  kind  invitation  to  come 
here  to  witness  some  of  the  great  religious  processions  which  will 
shortly  take  place,  and  shall  certainly  avail  myself  of  it,  if  1  am 
still  in  the  Peruvian  capital.  In  this  earthquaking  city  of  Lima 
this  is  almost  the  only  two-storied  house  whose  inhabitants  I  know. 
There  are  a  profusion  of  interesting  curiosities  in  the  large  and 
lofty  rooms  here  :  huacos  of  all  kinds  and  shapes,  formed  into 
various  sorts  of  monstrosities,  some  very  elaborately  finished  :  and 
there  are  quantities  of  beautiful  inlaid  cabinets — such  an  "em- 

S 


410  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

barras  des  ri chesses"  in  that  line,  indeed,  that  the  children  have 
some  magnificent  ones,  in  which  to  put  their  toys  and  books. 

Others  are  used  for  stores  of  Berlin- wool  and  canvas  (Mrs.  S 's 

sister  works  very  beautifully)  ;  and,  in  short,  costly  and  exquisite 
as  they  are,  they  are  obliged  to  make  themselves  generally  useful 
here. 

I  think  I  have  not  mentioned  that  the  room  in  which  Francisco 
Pizarro  was  assassinated  is  still  shown  at  Lima,  and  the  balcony 
from  whence  the  unpitying,  infuriated  Almagros  afterward  threw 
his  body  ;  but  I  doubt  its  being  the  true  one. 

"L'Algerie"  is  shortly  to  leave  Callao ;  for  Payta  first,  and 
then  probably  for  the  Sandwich  Islands.  We  went  to  take  leave 
of  Madame  F yesterday.  She  and  Monsieur  F are  stay- 
ing at  the  French  Minister's.  Madame  F seems  to  look  for- 
ward with  great  pleasure  to  her  extended  tour  and  voyage  round 
the  world,  and  not  to  regret  Paris  in  the  least.  She  expects  to  be 
much  interested  in  China :  it  is  altogether  a  very  spirited  under- 
taking for  this  young  and  beautiful  lady. 

We  also  went  to  see  Mrs.  B .  Her  house  is  remarkably 

pretty,  with  a  garden  like  a  vision  of  enchantment.  Such  flowers ! 
among  others,  that  lovely  "  variable,"  the  chameleon  of  flowers, 
which  changes  its  color  three  times  a  day.  It  is,  I  believe,  pure 
white  in  the  morning,  a  soft  rose-color  in  the  afternoon,  and  in  the 
evening  a  deep  glowing  crimson.  The  Peruvians  somewhat  im- 
pertinently call  it  the  "  Senorita." 

My  bird-fancying  companion  went  with  Mrs.  B 's  little 

adopted  daughter  to  see  two  splendid  feathered  monsters.  By  her 
description,  I  think  they  must  be  huacamayas,  a  rare  and  huge 
species  of  parrot.  She  says  they  were  of  enormous  size,  and  of  the 
most  dazzling  colors  conceivable,  but  very  savage  indeed.  They 
were  formerly  kept  in  the  garden ;  but  the  distracting  noise  they 
made  caused  them  to  be  banished  to  a  more  distant  place  of  abode. 

The  garden  here  is  in  the  patio,  and  the  delicious  odors  with 
which  it  floods  the  drawing- rooms  are  charming.  Still  the  luxuri- 
ance of  Lima  gardens  can  not  strictly  be  compared  with  that  of 
those  of  the  Havana.  I  must  give  a  list  of  the  plants  and  flowers 
in  one  small  garden  there  belonging  to  a  villa  in  the  suburbs. 
First  and  foremost,  the  villa  itself  (which  was  more  like  a  kiosk 
at  Constantinople  than  a  house,  all  balconies  and  galleries)  was 
smothered  in  the  most  lavish  growth  of  creepers  and  climbing 
plants  ;  and  it  was  most  magnificently  over-shadowed  by  a  princely 
bamboo,  whose  huge  giant  branches  rose  to  a  great  height  above 


ENERVATING  CLIMATE.  411 

it  to  fall  in  mighty  mammoth  plumes,  such  as  might  have  sur- 
mounted the  head  of  a  Titanic  birthday  beauty,  two  miles  high, 
— in  the  land  of  giants  and  ogres.  It  was  also  like  a  vast  high- 
soaring  fountain  of  transparent  emerald,  tossing  skyward  its  fairy 
columns,  and  falling  in  graceful  cascades  of  feathery,  far-spreading, 
and  foamy  lightness. 

The  garden  was  certainly  too  crowded  with  its  wild  botanical 
treasures  ;  yet  entangled  and  heaped  together  as  they  were  in  the 
richest  profusion,  they  all  appeared  in  the  most  flourishing  condition, 
and  those  that  could  find  no  space  below  for  their  exuberant  glories 
and  fanciful  vagaries  shot  up  above,  and  hung  their  enchanted 
bowers,  and  spread  their  mosaiced  and  rainbowed  parterres,  in  the 
air,  at  least  so  they  seemed  to  do.  There  were  jessamines,  hibis- 
cus (called  here  "  mar  pacifico"),  mignonnette  trees,  pomegranates, 
floripondias,  verbenas,  dahlias,  "conchitas  azules,"  marivillas  of 
three  colors,  orange  trees,  bananas,  papayos  (papaws),  silk  sugar- 
cane (a  particular  kind  of  sugar-cane),  guanabana,  aloes,  tobacco 
plant,  espuelas,  Peregrina  trees,  madamas  ;  quantities  of  different 
kinds  of  roses,  Alamo  trees,  diamela,  Almendras  (almond  trees), 
Almizcle  (musk),  Tuna  (a  peculiar  sort  of  cactus),  fig-trees,  Jupite 
or  astronomia,  grape-vines,  azucenas  (white  lilies),  Itamo  real 
(tree),  Albahaca  fina  (a  kind  of  sweet  basil),  yerba  Luisa,  romero 
(rosemary),  malva  real,  cafia  de  azucar,  violets,  mejorana,  aguin- 
aldos  blancos,  cundiamor,  Indio  trepador,  the  fine  flor  del  zapota, 
claveles  rosedans,  murallas  (trees),  the  cana  brava  (bamboo),  and 
others  whose  names  I  could  not  ascertain.  Remember,  this  is 
quite  a  common-place  and  very  little  garden,  with  hardly  any  care 
whatever  bestowed  upon  it. 

Delightful  as  this  cool  and  rainless  climate  of  Lima  is,  there  must, 
I  think,  be  something  peculiarly  enervating  about  it.  Notwith- 
standing the  untropical  freshness  of  the  air,  Europeans  complain 
that  they  can  not  take  exercise  here  as  in  their  own  countries ; 
and  what  is  strange,  the  eyes  seem  often  affected  with  weakness. 
The  complete  absence  of  sun  and  glare  in  general  ought,  one 
would  imagine,  to  be  favorable  to  the  visual  organs.  I  can  not 
say  that  we  find  walking  fatigues  us  more  here  than  at  other 
places,  but  we  constantly  hear  complaints  to  that  effect.  To  be 
sure,  we  have  been  here  but  a  short  time  as  yet. 

I  heard  the  other  day  two  English  ladies,  who  had  been  out 
shopping  together  the  previous  day,  inquiring  after  their  mutual 
healths,  and  one  said :  "  I  really  felt  as  if  I  should  die  when  I 
arrived  at  home ;  I  lay  down  on  the  sofa,  and  could  not  move 


TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 


hand  nor  foot  for  hours."  And  the  other,  "  I  felt  quite  ill  after  the 
fatigue  of  going  to  those  shops.  I  have  not  recovered  it.  I  have 
felt  so  tired  and  wearied  out  ever  since."  From  curiosity,  I  made 
inquiries  as  to  the  amount  of  exertion  they  had  undergone,  and 
found  it  was  what  would  be  considered  a  mere  nothing  in  London. 
We  are  going  to  see  some  of  the  churches.  The  magnificent 
church  and  convent  of  San  Francisco  I  fear  we  shall  not  be  allow- 
ed to  enter. 


CHAPTER  LI 

About  to  leave  Lima — The  Cathedral — Fragile  but  enduring  Buildings  in 
Lima — The  Reason  why  they  are  the  latter — The  Tower  of  San  Domingo 
— The  Chorister  of  the  Cathedral — The  Shrine  of  Santa  Rosa — The  Inqui- 
sition at  Lima — The  Cemetery — Cemeteries  in  the  United  States — Lima 
Mode  of  Sepulture — Remains  of  the  Temple  of  the  Sun — Peruvian  Poli- 
tics— Disheartening  News  from  California — Verses  on  Happiness — Earth- 
quakes at  Lima — The  Shoes  of  the  Ladies. 

WE  are  still  at  Lima ;  but  -an  American  steamer  has  lately 
arrived,  and  if  it  is  possible  to  manage  it  comfortably,  I  think  of 
taking  a  passage  in  her  to  Panama,  as  the  sooner  we  cross  the 
Isthmus  on  our  way  to  Jamaica  now  (before  the  roads  are  utterly 
turned  to  swamps  and  morasses)  the  better.  The  rainy  season  has 
doubtless  set  in,  but  in  the  beginning  it  is  comparatively  easy  to 
effect  the  transit. 

This  American  vessel  is  a  river  steamer.  She  has  come  here 
from  New  York,  through  the  straits  of  Magellan,  after  losing  al- 
most her  whole  crew  at  Rio  Janeiro  of  yellow  fever :  fifteen  men 
belonging  to  the  steamer  died  there,  and  the  captain  is  still  ill 
from  the  effects  of  the  severe  attack  he  had  of  that  dreadful  dis- 
order. In  some  instances,  it  is  stated,  merchant  vessels  were  left 
without  a  single  man  on  board.  It  began  among  the  shipping, 
and  for  a  long  time  did  not  make  its  appearance  on  shore ;  but  at 
length  it  burst  forth  there  also,  and  spread  with  awful  violence. 

Mr.  Yates  has  most  obligingly  volunteered  to  arrange  about  our 
passage  to  Panama,  if  the  accommodations  on  board  the  "  New 
World"  are  sufficiently  comfortable.  I  have  consulted  an  eminent 
English  Medical  gentleman  here  as  to  there  being  any  danger  of 
infection  on  board  the  steamer,  and  he  positively  assures  me  there 
is  not  the  smallest  cause  for  any  apprehension. 

Mr.  Yates  escorted  us  to  see  the  cathedral  and  two  other  fine 


FRAGILE  BUILDINGS.  413 

churches  this  morning,  as  well  as  the  building  where  the  Congress 
assembles.  This  is  not  very  imposing,  but  we  could  not  gain  ad- 
mittance to  the  finest  part.  A  ragged  soldier  piloted  us  about  : 
he  had  lost  a  limb  in  one  of  the  revolutionary  battles  here.  As 
he  led  us  along  a  handsome  hall,  I  saw  at  the  extreme  end,  where 
immense  doors  opened  on  a  kind  of  patio,  what  I  thought  was  a 
beautiful  garden,  and  the  distant  hills  and  mountains  behind  it. 

This  was  a  spirited,  well-executed  fresco,  on  a  high  wall  oppo- 
site, so  arranged  as  to  fill  up  the  whole  space  in  front  of  the  opened 
doors  :  when  seen  from  the  hall  it  has  the  appearance  of  being  a 
natural  landscape  and  garden.  The  court-yards  were  like  open-air 
panoramas.  The  people  seem  to  have  a  perfect  passion  for  fresco- 
paintings  and  arabesques. 

If  the  truth  is  to  be  told,  Lima  itself,  the  regal  and  the  aspiring, 
is  very  near  being  one  huge  colossal  opera-scene.  A  great  number 
of  the  princely-looking  edifices  that  rear  their  haughty  fronts  as  if 
they  would  defy  the  terrible  temblor  itself,  are  only  built  of  stones 
and  bricks  (or  often  of  gigantic  adobes)  up  to  the  height  of  the  bel- 
fries ;  above  this  all  is  lath  and  plaster,  paste-board  and  rushes, 
reeds  and  stucco  ;  a  vast  accumulation  of  architecturally  arranged 
whips,  and  wicker  work,  and  whim-whams,  and  walking-sticks ; 
but  the  effect  is  as  splendid  as  if  all  was  built  of  granite  and  ada- 
mant. Who  would  dream,  when  looking  at  this  city  from  the 
Amancaes,  that  these  glorious  domes  and  steeples,  so  thickly 
crowding  together  that  one  might  almost  think  the  inhabitants  of 
Lima  all  dwelt  in  churches,  or  in  convents  at  least,  and  that  no  sec- 
ular habitation  intervened — who  would  dream,  I  say,  that  these 
apparently  massive  structures  were  closely  akin  to  a  child's  house 
of  cards,  or  the  back-ground  scenes  of  a  ballet  in  London  or 
Paris?  But  Lima  is  justified  in  placing  her  faith  on  a  reed,  and 
in  thinking  stability,  or  rather  solidity,  of  construction  not  literally 
worth  a  rush  here. 

These  light  and  fragile  fabrics  are  the  only  edifices  of  any  ele- 
vation that  can  withstand  the  shocks  of  the  devastating  earth- 
quake. The  reader  will  remember,  I  dare  say,  the  account  of  the 
earthquake  in  New  Zealand,  when  all  the  strongly-built  stone 
houses  suffered  and  sank,  and  became  piles  of  ruins,  and  those  with 
slender  wooden  walls  stood  uninjured.  No  lofty  structure  could 
survive  the  assaults  of  frequent  earthquakes,  except  those  of  such 
"  leather  and  prunella,"  papery  composition  :  they  bend  and  quiver 
like  a  storm-shaken  pine  of  the  forest,  but  regain  and  recover  their 
perpendicular  position  unimpaired. 


414  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

* 

There  is  one  very  high  tower,  that  of  San  Domingo,  where 
they  say  the  ringing  of  the  bells  causes  an  extreme  vibration,  like 
that  in  the  leaning  tower  of  Pisa,  yet  it  is  considered  safe.  As  to 
the  private  dwelling  houses,  they  are  generally,  of  course,  of  the 
same  materials ;  but  as  rain  is  unknown  here,  and  wind  does  not 
visit  the  "  face"  of  the  fair  city  ever  "  too  roughly,"  you  might 
live  in  a  tent  of  silken  tafietta,  if  so  minded,  without  injury  from 
the  elements. 

The  cathedral  has  two  aisles  inside,  supported  by  a  vast  num- 
ber of  pillars.  There  is  in  the  interior  some  very  beautifully  carv- 
ed wood  ;  but  while  we  were  admiring  this,  a  ragged- looking  boy, 
who  had  been  previously  chattering  with  some  urchins  of  comrades, 
rushed  toward  us,  gesticulating  and  vociferating  amazingly,  and 
said  on  no  account  could  the  ladies  be  permitted  to  remain.  Cap- 
tain W ,  who  had  joined  our  party,  with  Mr.  Yates,  tried  to 

pacify  him,  and  persuade  him  to  allow  us  to  stay. 

Suddenly  he  darted  away,  and  with  remarkable  rapidity  ap- 
peared before  us  again  in  a  change  of  costume,  that  had  been 
effected  with  such  celerity,  that  we  should  have  been  disposed  to 
think  it  was  a  twin  brother  of  our  youthful  persecutor,  had  not  our 
eyes  followed  his  agile  movements.  He  was  now  a  chorister  in 
flowing  robes,  and  with  much  dignity  of  deportment  he  ordered  us 
away:  it  was  "quite  impossible  that  ladies  should  come  there;" 
but  this  our  presence  practically  contradicted,  so  we  replied  not. 
He  frowned  and  fulmined  at  us ;  probably  threatened  us  with  the 
vengeance  of  the  Pope  and  the  whole  College  of  Cardinals,  and 
sweet  Santa  Rosa  of  Lima  if  we  did  not  depart. 

His  rage  and  eagerness  prevented  his  speaking  very  clearly,  and 
we  were  really  much  taken  up  in  looking  at  the  beautiful  wood 
carvings;  but  we  soon  told  him  we  would  go,  and  his  countenance 
lighted  up  a  little.  He  behaved  civilly  enough  when  he  saw  us 
departing,  merely  looking  as  if  he  would  like  particularly  to  have 
the  exterminating  of  us  quietly,  without  any  torturing  whatsoever. 

We  had  hoped  to  have  avoided  any  unpleasant  rencontre  of  this 
kind  ;  for  hearing  they  were  very  particular  about  the  head-dress 
here,  we  had  doffed  our  already-excommunicated  bonnets,  and  put 
a  "  manto"  of  the  moment  on  our  heads,  formed  of  black  scarfs; 
but  this  young  gentleman  quickly  discovered  we  were  heretics,  and 
treated  us  accordingly.  The  shrine  of  the  patroness  of  Lima, 
Saint  Rosa,  was  brilliantly  decorated.  In  the  fine  Murillo  at 
Belvoir  Castle,  this  saint  appears.  The  cathedral  formerly  was 
enriched  by  vast  quantities  of  solid  silver,  which  have  gradually 


THE  INQUISITION.  415 


melted  away,  under  the  unscrupulous  attacks  of  the  many  differ- 
ent revolutionists  and  pseudo-regenerators  of  this  fine  land. 

We  afterward  went  to  see  the  ancient  Inquisition  :  it  is  now 
used  chiefly  as  a  prison  for  the  meanest  criminals.  In  a  large 
hall  we  saw  a  truly  beautiful  carved  ceiling ;  it  was  perfectly  ex- 
quisite, but  is  quite  lost  where  it  is.  We  were  told  by  a  Peruvian 
gentleman  there,  that  it  has  long  been  contemplated  to  remove  it 
to  some  more  conspicuous  and  suitable  situation.  We  looked  into 
one  of  the  old  dungeons  of  the  Inquisition.  Horrible !  When 
the  accused  was  brought  from  his  cell,  he  did  not  enter  the  hall  of 
judgment,  or  whatever  this  great  gloomy  chamber  was  called,  but 
was  led  up  to  a  small  grated  opening  in  the  wall,  to  hear  the  sen- 
tence. 

We  were  shown  the  place  where  an  immense  crucifix  had  been 
formerly  attached  to  the  wall  at  the  upper  end  of  the  room,  above 
the  place  where  sat  the  solemn  arbiters  of  life  and  death.  Behind 
this  figure  was  arranged  machinery,  by  which  it  was  made  to  nod 
and  shake  the  head,  when  appealed  to,  before  the  irrevocable 
decision  was  pronounced.  The  Peruvian  gentleman  enlarged  upon 
the  horrors  of  those  olden  days  in  a  strain  of  glowing  indignation, 
till  that  gloomy  old  hall  of  the  Inquisition  resounded  with  his 
eager  eloquence. 

Mr.  Yates,  who  had  most  obligingly  undertaken  to  pay  a  visit 
to  the  American  steamer,  and  let  us  know  whether  she  had  suffi- 
cient accommodation,  has  brought  us  word  that  the  captain  will 
make  all  necessary  arrangements,  and  that  he  fully  intends  to  stop 
at  Panama  on  his  way  to  San  Francisco.  He  says  the  vessel  is 
beautifully  clean,  and  that  we  shall  have  it  almost  all  to  ourselves, 
as  there  are  only  three  passengers  in  her  now  for  California.  Wheu 
she  gets  to  Panama,  she  will  probably  find  crowds  anxious  to  take 
their.passage  in  her. 

I  have  just  returned  from  a  charming  drive  with  our  kind  friend 

Mrs.  A ,  after  going  to  take  leave  of  Mrs.  S and  her 

sister,  and  the  pretty  children,  with  their  flowing  English-looking 
golden  ringlets.  We  drove  to  the  cemetery,  a  little  distance  from 
Lima  :  we  found  the  great  gates  locked,  and  could  only  look 
through  them.  After  seeing  the  most  magnificent  and  beautiful 
cemeteries  in  the  world — those  of  the  United  States — all  others 
look  dreary  and  poor  in  comparison.  Even  those  glittering,  much- 
adorned  church-yards,  which  I  remember  admiring  once  in  Ba- 
varia, would,  from  their  petty  size,  look  inferior  indeed. 

Then  in  the  United   States  they  generally  choose   a  natural 


416  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

situation  of  the  greatest  beauty ;  and  Nature  and  Art  strive 
together  to  perform,  as  it  were,  everlastingly  the  noblest  funeral 
obsequies  around  the  tombs  of  the  departed.  Statues  of  angels 
and  weeping  mourners  stand  by  the  graves  among  flowers  and 
trees  ;  the  air  thrills  with  perpetual  hymns  of  singing  birds  ;  silent 
sermons  are  preached  from  changing  foliage  and  varying  blooms. 
All  is  touching,  and  beautiful,  and  hallowed,  in  that  place,  which 
the  imaginative  Germans  so  poetically  call  "  God's  Acre."  And 
BO  it  should  be. 

The  Old  Romans  were  the  wisest  of  mankind,  it  is  my  humble 
opinion,  in  their  way  of  disposing  finally  of  their  dead  ;  and  next 
to  them  are  the  Young  Americans  !  Death  is  not  made  unneces- 
sarily and  improperly  gloomy  and  repulsive.  The  pale  angel  is 
still  an  angel,  and  regarded  as  the  one  who,  in  opening  the  gates 
of  the  grave,  throws  wide  the  portals  of  immortality. 

It  is  the  custom  in  Lima  for  a  large  clumsy  hearse,  drawn  by 
mules,  and  driven  by  a  postillion,  to  go  round  in  the  morning,  aitd 
collect  the  bodies  of  those  who  have  died  in  the  preceding  night. 
The  hearse,  called  the  car  of  the  Pantheon,  brings  them  to  the 
cathedral,  to  receive  the  latest  offices  of  the  Church.  Sometimes 
the  corpses  are  brought  in  coffins,  and  sometimes  not.  When  the 
latter  is  the  case,  a  public  receptacle  is  used  during  the  perform- 
ance of  the  funeral  ceremony,  which  is  made  to  fit  all  comers. 

On  returning  from  the  cemetery,  which  is  inclosed  by  high  adobe 
walls,  we  found  it  quite  cold,  and  were  glad  to  put  on  additional 
cloaks.  Our  hands  were  extremely  chilled.  There  must  be  some 
great  difference  in  the  climate  or  the  construction  of  the  houses  in 
Mexico  and  Lima.  We  have  never  found  it  cold  in  the  houses 
here  (without  fires,  of  course),  while  in  Mexico — in  the  mornings 
particularly — we  often  found  it  so.  In  Mexico,  on  the  contrary, 
I  never  found  it  cold  out  of  doors ;  whereas  here,  several  times 
we  have  found  it  imperatively  necessary  to  put  on  warm,  thick 
shawls  on  going  out. 

I  am  sorry  to  leave  Lima  before  the  religious  fetes  take  place, 
for  the  city,  from  its  many  peculiarities,  must  present  a  very  strik- 
ing scene  on  those  occasions.  From  all  its  nearly  innumerable 
churches  and  convents  are  floating  then  myriads  of  consecrated 
banners,  and  from  the  houses,  too,  tens  of  thousands  of  "  banderas" 
are  streaming  with  their  gaudy  hues  on  the  flushed  air. 

The  insides  of  the  churches  are  adorned  with  a  forest  of  artificial 
flowers,  and  miles  of  festooning  ribbons,  and  are  besides  decorated 
with  other  ornaments,  in  almost  endless  profusion.  Processions  go 


THE  TEMPLE  OF  THE  SUN.  417 

through  the  streets,  and  music  awakens  the  echoes,  while  incense 
from  censers  of  silver  thickly  ascends  in  odoriferous  clouds,  and  a 
hundred  splendid  pageants  appear  on  all  sides. 

Just  now,  serious  reflections  on  such  subjects  I  will  not  enter 
into.  The  spectacle  itself,  however  much  there  is  to  be  deplored 
in  such  exhibitions,  must  be  fine,  amid  all  the  picturesque  adjuncts 
of  the  capital  of  Peru,  where  the  old  Sun-worshipers  whilom  knelt 
in  rude  idolatry. 

Speaking  of  them,  I  should  have  very  much  liked  to  visit  the 
remains  of  the  ancient  Temple  of  the  Sun,  about  twenty  miles 
from  this  city.  This  old  edifice  is  said  to  have  been  about  three 
hundred  and  thirty  feet  high ;  some  writers  state  that  it  was  at 
least  six  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  raised  on  an 
elevation  which  was  in  part  artificial.  The  ruins  are  scattered 
over  three  grand  terraces,  rising  in  regular  gradations  one  over  the 
other.  The  remains  of  an  ancient  and  stately  town  lie  moulder- 
ing around  the  fallen  temple  of  Pachacamac,  the  life-bestowing  deity. 

The  scenery  around  is  reported  to  be  very  splendid  ;  the  gigantic 
mountain-views  contrasting  strikingly  with  the  smiling  groves  of 
orange,  and  the  fruitful  gardens  and  fields  of  the  lovely  valley  of 
Lurin — quiet  hamlets,  with  their  painted  churches  and  soaring 
steeples  ;  the  Pacific  tossing  its  foam  in  sparkling  garlands  on  the 
shore,  and  fading  away  in  the  blue  horizon  ;  the  wild-whirling 
clouds  on  the  distant  lofty  peaks  ;  the  haciendas  hidden  in  thickets 
of  fruit  trees ;  old  earthquake-ruined  bridges,  and  Indian  chacras, 
dotted  here  and  there. 

Altogether,  by  all  accounts,  it  must  form  a  very  interesting 
scene,  and  assuredly  must  be  well  worth  going  to  see ;  but  we 
found  various  difficulties  in  the  way  ;  and  not  thinking  of  going  so 
soon,  I  put  it  off;  and  that  most  arrant  thief  and  vagabond,  Pro- 
crastination, has  robbed  me  of  this.  Is  not  that  same  Procrastina- 
tion the  chief  pavior  of  Pluto,  where  good  intentions  were  used 
instead  of  stone  or  wood  ? 

I  will  not  enter  into  any  Peruvian  politics,  my  sole  intention 
being  to  tell  the  reader  what  we  actually  see  around  us.  It 
would  only  be  the  gossip  of  politics  that  1  could  give  in  these 
hastily  written  pages,  and  would  neither  amuse  nor  edify.  I  will, 
therefore,  merely  say,  there  seems  a  growing  jealousy  between  civil- 
ians and  the  military.  The  South  American  armies,  as  far  as  I  have 
seen,  seem  to  be  maintained  generally  not  for  the  purpose  so  much 
of  fighting  the  country's  battles  with  foreign  foes,  as  for  settling  end- 
less disputes  among  the  belligerent  factions  at  home. 


418  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  say  that  the  sole  movement  here  has  been 
a  "  progressive  retrogression  ;"  but  I  am  disposed  to  think,  in 
educational  matters,  and  other  things  indispensable  to  successful 
self-government,  there  has  been  displayed  a  remarkable  supineness 
in  high  quarters ;  which  "  masterly  inactivity,"  in  those  who 
desire  to  lead  and  autocratize  over  the  people,  renders  the  govern- 
ment, popularized  though  it  is,  more  a  military  despotism  than  a 
constitutional  democracy. 

Physical  force,  I  believe,  embodies  pretty  strongly  the  ruling 
idea  in  their  vexed  politics.  If  the  citizen  is  jealous  of  the  soldier, 
let  him  himself  erect  the  school-house  (which  acts  so  great  a  part 
in  the  prosperity  of  the  United  States)  in  opposition  to  the  bar- 
racks ;  and  in  time,  though  we  may  have  many  a  phase  of  various 
aspects  to  witness  first,  we  shall  see  real  improvement  and  positive 
progress  here  ;  especially  if  moral  training  keep  pace  with  intellect- 
ual— for  the  one  without  the  other  is  a  dangerous  mistake.  Chili, 
from  what  I  hear  on  all  sides,  is  the  most  flourishing  of  all  these 
South  American  republics  :  the  people  are  steady,  industrious,  en- 
terprising, and  temperate ;  and,  it  seems,  moderately  enlightened. 

There  is  an  English  book-club  established  here,  and  they  have 
a  number  of  interesting  works  sent  out  from  England.  I  have 
just  read  one  of  them,  Layard's  "Nineveh."  I  have  not  yet 
mentioned  that  the  steamer  we  are  going  in  is  a  river  steamer,  the 
second  that  has  been  sent  round  Cape  Horn.  She  is  going  to  run 
on  the  Sacramento  River,  in  California. 

I  have  lately  heard  my  English  friends  here  lamenting  over 
some  melancholy  accounts  that  have  come  from  that  "Eureka" 
State.  A  young  American  gentleman,  who  apparently  was  ex- 
ceedingly popular  here,  has  attempted  to  commit  self-destruction, 
after  a  melancholy  series  of  misfortunes.  He  had  not  very  long 
ago  lost  a  beloved  wife,  who  was  killed  by  a  fall  from  her  horse  in 
California.  He  was  slowly  recovering  from  this  dreadful  blow, 
which  it  is  said  he  most  profoundly  felt  (so  deeply,  indeed,  that  his 
reason,  it  was  believed,  was  slightly  unsettled  by  the  shock),  when 
by  some  unforeseen  calamity — the  great  fire,  I  believe — his  newly- 
made  fortune  was  entirely  shattered,  and  he  fell  at  once  from 
affluence  into  destitution.  He  attempted  to  shoot  himself,  but 
blew  off  nearly  half  his  face,  and  yet  remained  alive. 

The  story  is  a  very  sad  one ;  but  many  almost  equally  heart- 
rendering  occurrences,  it  is  to  be  feared,  have  taken  place  in  the 
golden  land  since  the  great  emigration  commenced.  One  man 
went  mad  from  sudden  success,  and  killed  himself  in  a  paroxysm 


EARTHQUAKES.  419 


of  delirium.  In  short.  I  have  heard  so  many  mournful  histories 
with  regard  to  successful  and  unsuccessful  speculators,  that  I  am 
reminded  of  some  verses  of  my  own,  in  a  poem  written  long  ago. 
Here  is  some  of  it : 


Oh,  Happiness !  where  is  thy  home  ? 

Say,  where  dost  thon  linger  and  dwell? 
Stars  and  seraphs  sing — "f/jj's  side  the  tomb"- 

Dear,  impossible  Blessing,  farewell ! 

n. 
Hence  no  more — oh,  no  more — never  more, 

Come  in  shadows  or  seeming  near  me; 
I  might  dream  thou  wert  clasped  to  the  core, 

And  but  wake  to  find  grief,  and  not  thee ! 

in. 
Did  I  think  I  could  seize  thee  when  borne 

On  the  whirlwinds  of  passion  and  pride, 
All  my  spirit  on  fire  with  its  scorn — 

All  my  heart  like  a  storm-troubled  tide  ? 


Say  oh !  Happiness,  where  is  thy  sphere  ? 

Where,  where  dost  thou  linger  and  dwell? 
All  still  seek  thee  afar  and  anear, 

But,  impossible  Blessing — farewell ! 

After  seeing  the  fragility  of  the  materials  used  here  generally  in 
the  construction  of  buildings,  I  am  no  longer  surprised  at  what  the 
residents  tell  me ;  namely,  that  if  a  heavy  pattering  shower  of 
rain  came  down,  Lima  might  melt  away  like  a  huge  heap  of 
Brobdignagian  bonbons,  or  like  a  confectionary-metropolis — a  vast 
collection  of  mammoth  barley-sugar  temples — or  else  it  might  be 
swept  away  altogether  into  the  Pacific.  But  in  this  earthquaking 
land,  it  is  imperatively  necessary  it  should  be  so. 

Here  they  pray  continually  to  be  protected  from  earthquakes  ; 
the  word  "famine,"  in  our  Church  Service,  is  left  out,  and  "earth- 
quake" substituted.  Compensation  is  Nature's  favorite  rule,  and 
one  she  scarcely  ever  (if  ever)  infringes. 

The  charming  little  child  of  Monsieur  and  Madame  du  C , 

has  just  paid  us  a  visit.  V was  playing  with  some  paroquets, 

which  attracted  her  into  the  drawing-roorn,  for  of  course  the  bal- 
cony doors  were  wide  open.  Little  Bertha  is  one  of  the  most  sen- 
sible children  I  ever  met  with  :  she  gave  an  account  of  their  pas- 


420  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

sage  across  the  Isthmus,  and  her  poor  papa's  unfortunate  fall,  in  the 
most  touching  and  pretty  language,  in  a  perfectly  simple  and  art- 
less yet  animated  manner,  and  then  reverted  to  her  chere  France, 
where  she  was  so  happy,  and  had  so  many  playfellows  and  pleas- 
ures, and  her  "  pauvre  papa"  was  quite  well.  Though  the  little 
darling  seemed  contented  and  happy  enough  at  Lima ;  and  it 
would  have  been  sad,  indeed,  if  at  five  or  six  years  of  age  she  had 
begun  to  grieve  for  "  days  lang  syne,"  for  they  seemed  "lang  syne" 
to  her. 

But  the  Captain  of  the  "New  World"  has  sent  us  word  he 
shall  be  ready  to  start  in  the  evening.  I  have  got  to  send  back 
books  that  have  been  kindly  lent  to  me  from  the  English  Book 

Club,  to  write  a  note  of  leave-taking  and  thanks  to  Mrs.  B , 

who  has  sent  us  a  beautiful  plant,  and  to  do  all  the  innumerable 
necessary  nothings  people  find  to  do  before  leaving  a  place ;  and 
then  farewell  to  beautiful,  dilapidated  Lima,  mighty  in  fragility, 
and  refulgent  in  decay  ;  the  most  splendid  city  that  the  Spaniards 
ever  built  in  South  America,  and  the  capital  of  the  richest  of  its 
countries — superb  Peru  ! 

Mariquita,  our  Peruvian  female  attendant,  has  just  been  to 
take  leave  of  us,  and  her  sister  to  boot,  bringing  with  them  one  of 

the  loveliest  little  dogs  you  can  imagine.  Mrs.  B told  me 

the  other  day,  that  in  this  neighborhood  people  are  occasionally 
subject  to  a  shortness  of  breathing,  which  is  very  distressing.  It 
is  something  like  asthma,  but  not  exactly  :  keeping  the  chest  warm 
is  recommended  by  the  faculty,  and  these  little  dogs,  with  their  soft, 
satin-like  fur,  are  used  as  living  mufis  or  cushions  (as  in  England 
those  silken  breast-plates  called  comforters  are  used) ;  and  in 
almost  all  cases  these  animated  canine  cuirasses  are  found  to  be 
perfectly  efficacious. 

Independently  of  their  being  employed  in  this  remedial  service, 
these  tiny  creatures  are  often  seen  nestling  in  the  folds  of  their 
mistress's  gowns,  more  like  doves  than  dogs.  They  are  wonder- 
fully small,  and  their  wee  feet  emulate  in  delicacy  those  of  their 
fair  owners. 

One  of  ihefemmes  de  cJiambre  went  the  other  day  to  order  some 
walking  shoes,  and  told  me  when  she  entered  the  shop,  she  fancied 
at  first  it  must  be  a  place  for  babies  and  children's  shoes  only,  so 
marvelously  small  were  those  satin  "  zapatos,"  but  they  were  found 
to  be  all  ladies'  shoes.  The  only  thing  that  spoils  their  feet  is, 
they  wear  their  shoes  too  short  even  for  their  diminutive  feet, 
which  makes  them  look  (as  they  are  inclined  to  be  the  least  soupfon 


VOYAGE  FROM  PERU  TO  PANAMA.  421 

too  broad  for  their  length)  a  little — a  very  little — disproportionately 
short ;  but  in  the  most  refined  classes  this  defect  almost  entirely 
disappears. 

To  return  to  the  canine  subject :  I  hear  that  at  Chihuahua,  in 
Mexico,  is  a  breed  of  the  most  extraordinary  little  dogs  imaginable, 
much  smaller  even  than  these,  and  yet  excessively  fierce.  They 
make  the  best  and  most  vigilant  guards  and  watch-dogs  possible, 
dwarfs  though  they  are. 

With  regard  to  educational  establishments,  I  believe  I  have 
done  Lima  a  little  injustice.  I  have  been  informed  lately  there 
are  several. 


CHAPTER   LII. 

The  Voyage  from  Peru  to  Panama — Farewell  to  Lima — Guanacos — The 
Rio  Lady  in  the  Omnibus — The  Railroad  begun — Arrival  at  Callao — 

Rodil's  defense  of  Callao  described — Polite  Attention  of  Captain  W 

— The  Harbor  of  Callao — The  Beauty  of  the  Pacific — Handsome  Appoint- 
ments of  the  Steamer — The  musical  Stewards — Mr.  Beebe,  the  Hatter,  for 
California — Arrival  at  Payta — The  British  Consul  there — Description  of 
Payta — Treatment  of  Peru  by  the  Spanish  Conquerors — Insurrection  of 
Tupac  Amaru — The  Indians  beyond  Peru. 

I  WRITE  this  chapter  at  Jamaica.  Our  return  voyage  from 
Peru  to  Panama  was  most  successfully  performed.  1  have  for- 
merly mentioned  how  much  we  suffered  on  our  first  voyage,  ther- 
mometrically  speaking  ;  but  we  experienced  scarcely  any  oppressive 
heat  whatsoever  on  our  way  back. 

We  left  the  city  of  the  land  of  the  Incas  in  that  unromantic 
conveyance  called  an  omnibus ;  for  we  feared  we  were  late,  and 
thought  that  we  should  save  time  by  so  doing.  Mr.  Yates  was 
good  enough  to  arrange  all  for  us,  and  we  found  the  omnibus  just 
starting.  The  administrador  recommended  dispatch.  We  clam- 
bered in  hastily,  and — weak  mortals — we  thought,  when  we  got 
in,  it  was  full ;  but  another  passenger  appeared — an  Indian  woman, 
with  a  little  chocolate-colored  baby,  who  looked  round  with  great 
sang-froid  on  the  crammed  vehicle,  most  philosophically  indifferent. 
These  Indian  infants  seem  the  most  stoical  little  dingy  Diogeneses 
on  earth. 

At  last  the  omnibus  overflowed.  A  few  arms,  and  heads,  and 
shoulders,  and  such  insignificant  portions  of  the  human  frame  were 


422  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

squeezed  out  at  the  rows  of  open  windows,  and  then,  arre  !  On 
we  go,  through  the  Morisco-Spanish  streets  of  the  noble  old  city, 
on,  till  we  dash  through  the  great  gate. 

Magnificent  Lima,  farewell !  Like  so  many  Sister  Annes,  we 
can  soon  see  nothing  but  clouds  of  dust.  Would  we  could  have 
seen  flocks — not  of  sheep,  but  of  the  gentle  llama,  those  singular 
animals  which,  if  they  are  over-loaded  or  ill-used,  shed  tears,  look 
up  pathetically  and  half  reproachfully,  and  then  in  despair,  if  not 
relieved  or  soothed,  lie  down  and  die.  I  am  assured  this  is  a  fact ; 
but  I  will  say  no  more  of  them,  as  they  are  so  well  known,  nor  of 
the  vicunas  and  alpacas. 

By  the  way,  the  guanacos  are  by  some  supposed  to  be  a  smaller 
kind  of  the  large  animal,  on  which  the  Patagonians  were  said  to 
have  ridden,  bearing  a  resemblance  to  the  mule,  and  also  to  the 
stag  or  elk.  They  are  not,  I  believe,  used  as  beasts  of  draught  or 
burden  by  the  South  Americans,  though  some  authors  state  they 
are  capable  of  drawing  more  weight  than  two  horses. 

The  first  day  Mrs.  A landed  in  Peru,  she  was  lucky  enough 

to  see  a  long  string  of  the  interesting  llamas,  but  has  not  seen  one 
in  Lima  since. 

For  the  dust,  we  could  but  just  glimpse  the  noble  trees  of  the 
great  avenue  leading  from  the  town.  A  young  Peruvian  gentle- 
man in  the  carriage,  whose  poncho  was  lying  like  a  lady's  shawl 
carelessly  on  his  arm,  to  save  his  casaca  from  the  polvo,  quick  as 
thought  doffed  his  sombrero,  and  popped  his  head  through  the 
poncho,  without  apparently  discomposing  a  single  hair. 

A  lady  seated  opposite  to  me  was  very  communicative.  She 
told  me  she  had  only  lately  arrived  from  Rio  Janeiro,  and  she  re- 
gretted exceedingly  the  imperial  magnificence  and  the  court  gay- 
eties  of  that  capital.  She  was  a  thorough-going  monarchist.  It 
was  delightful  to  see  the  cortege  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
when  they  went  out.  At  the  opera  their  box  looked  so  splendid  ; 
the  Imperial  Court  gave  such  life  and  brilliancy  to  every  thing. 
Lima  seemed  so  dull  in  comparison.  The  President  indeed  !  what 
was  that !  Nothing  at  all !  "  Oh  que  differencia,  que  lastima, 
que  disgracia,"  that  there  should  be  no  great  court  here  !  Rio 
was  infinitely  preferable,  she  thought,  arid  every  thing  so  very 
flourishing  there. 

And  now,  thanks  to  an  intermission  of  dust,  we  caught  sight  of 
the  many-towered  capital,  leaning,  in  its  haughty  beauty,  against 
the  everlasting  Andes.  "  Que  maravilla  !"  "  Ah  !  Lima  was 
very  well,"  but  the  fair  Brazilian  reverted  to  Rio.  "  Pero  Rio  ! 


THE  RAILROAD  BEGUN.  423 

Eso  es  superior  £  todo  elogio,  hechicero  !  admirable."  "  The  cli- 
mate here,  however,  must  be  pleasanter  by  all  accounts.  "  Pero 
esta  V.  Equivocado." — "  It  is  charming  at  Rio,  a  little  hot  cer- 
tainly, but  it  is  cooler  in  the  evening ;  and  then  there  are  such 
diamonds,  and  all  seem  so  happy  there." 

The  omnibus  stopped,  and  a  Peruvian  caballero,  who  was  one 
of  the  passengers,  soon  saw  a  friend  of  his  on  horseback,  near  the 
door  of  the  "  fonda ;"  wishing  to  speak  to  him,  he  attempted  to 
reach  the  "  portazuela ;"  but  seeing  this  would  incommode  us, 
managed  to  get  out  of  one  "of  the  front  windows,  really  like  a  very 
graceful  monkey,  and  climbed  in  again  with  equal  agility. 

As  we  drove  along,  some  splendidly  dressed  caballeros  galloped 
past  us  with  their  magnificently  caparisoned  horses  caracoling  very 
prettily  :  but  on  thundered  our  great  lumbering  vehicle,  "  ciuda- 
do !  caballeros,"  for  our  ebony  coachman  has  had  a  little  tiny 
taste,  it  seems,  of  "  pisco."  But  the  beautiful  horses  were  every 
now  and  then  to  be  seen  through  the  dust,  dancing  a  pretty  little 
ballet  along  the  gently  descending  road. 

The  railroad  is  already  begun  !  we  caught  a  glimpse  of  the 
works  as  we  passed  by.  An  unfortunate  accident  had  just  hap- 
pened, the  day  before  we  left,  I  think.  A  man  was  killed,  it  was 
said,  and  others  injured  :  and  some  of  the  natives  began  to  shake 
their  heads,  and  said  it  was  ominous,  and  the  railroad  constructed 
by  heretics  would  not  answer,  and  so  on.  Last  year,  I  believe,  the 
attempt  was  made  ;  but  the  superintendent,  a  young  man  of  tal- 
ent, went  mad  from  over-anxiety,  and  subsequently  died  here. 
There  appears,  however,  no  doubt  now  of  its  succeeding. 

We  arrived  at  Callao  in  excellent  time,  and  by  Mrs.  M 's 

kind  invitation  went  straight  to  her  house.  We  heard  that  the 
American  steamer  would  not  start  for  the  present,  and  Captain 

W had  obligingly  left  us  a  message  to  say,  he  would  come 

at  the  right  time  to  take  us  on  board  in  his  boat. 

I  was  anxious  to  take  a  poncho  with  me  to  England,  and  had 

not  had  time  to  get  it  at  Lima  that  morning.  Mrs.  M sent 

for  one  from  a  Callao  shop,  which  I  bought.  Mr.  B ,  who 

amiably  came  to  see  us  off,  on  looking  at  my  purchase,  told  me 
very  likely  it  had  been  imported  from  England,  where  they  make 
them  now,  to  undersell  the  market  here.  So  my  poor  poncho  was 
partly  disenchanted  in  my  eyes — manufactured  at  Leeds  instead 
of  in  the  interior  of  Peru  !  but  I  don't  quite  believe  it  is  the  case. 
I  think  my  poncho  has  a  very  Peruvian  and  anti-Leeds  air ;  so  I 
shall  try  and  console  myself. 


424  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

Callao  does  not  look  to  advantage  after  Lima,  notwithstanding 

it  boasts  some  very  pretty  mansions,  like  Mr.  and  Mrs.  M '&, 

for  example.  It  is  said  that  in  some  of  the  by-streets  there  you 
will  see  English  signs  hung  up,  such  as  "  The  Lively  Pig,"  &c.  ; 
but  Valparaiso  is  said  to  be  still  more  Anglicized  in  its  nomen- 
clature. 

I  was  sorry  not  to  be  able  to  go  to  see  the  old  castle  of  Callao, 
which,  under  Rodil,  during  the  War  of  Independence,  stood  a 
siege  of  two  years.  Rodil  defended  the  fortress  most  gallantly  and 
resolutely. .  The  blockade  was  so  strict,  that  the  garrison  was  re- 
duced to  severe  extremities,  horseflesh  being  sold  for  a  gold  ounce 
per  pound,  and  chickens  for  their  weight  in  gold.  In  addition  to 
this,  he  had  treachery  and  insubordination  to  contend  with  con- 
stantly within  the  walls  ;  and  he  was  compelled  to  maintain  his 
legitimate  authority  as  commander  by  many  terrible  examples  of 
severity. 

Thus  attacked,  and  hemmed  in  on  all  sides  by  land  and  by 
water,  with  treason  close  at  hand,  and  war,  hatred  and  rage  with- 
out, a  thousand  hardships  and  privations  increasing  upon  them 
day  by  day,  and  hopelessness  casting  slowly  its  heavy  shadow  over 
their  outworn  spirits,  Rodil,  with  a  few  faithful  adherents,  "  preux 
chevaliers,  sans  peur  et  sans  reproche,"  still  were  true  to  their 
posts,  and  devoted  to  their  duty,  their  king,  and  their  country,  till 
a  frightful  famine  forced  them  to  surrender.  Here,  where  the 
Royalists  made  their  last  stand  in  the  country,  was  the  royal  flag 
of  Leon  and  of  Castile  furled  for  ever ;  but  Rodil  has  left  a  glo- 
rious name  behind  him,  which  even  his  enemies  must  respect. 

The  round  turrets  of  the  dilapidated  castle  are  flanked  on  each 
side  by  lengthened  lines  of  fortifications,  by  curtains,  and  bastions, 
and  batteries,  and  walls,  and  embrasures.  Inclosed  within  pro- 
digiously thick  and  casemated  walls,  are  extensive  barracks  (which 
at  present  are  turned  into  useful  warehouses  for  the  peaceful  cus- 
toms), magazines,  &c.  It  is  thought  by  some  that  a  very  insig- 
nificant army,  numerically  speaking,  properly  commanded,  and 
well  found  in  siege  materiel,  might  have  taken  the  place  in  two 
weeks,  or  perhaps  one,  instead  of  two  years.  This  fortress  had, 
however,  a  proud  reputation  of  yore  in  Peru. 

Shortly  after  Captain  W arrived,  we  took  leave  of  Mrs. 

M ,  and  walked  to  the  mole,  where  we  found  the  boat  in 

readiness  to  convey  us  to  the  American  steamer.  So,  wishing 

Mr.  B good-by,  who  had  walked  with  us  to  the  boat,  we 

were  handed  in  by  Captain  W :.  and  soon  found  ourselves 


ON  BOARD.  426 


alongside  of  the  vessel.  She  reminded  us  of  the  Mississippi  steam- 
ers in  her  appearance.  When  we  arrived  alongside  we  had  only 
one  little  step  to  make  into  the  steamer  from  the  boat. 

The  Captain  had  not  yet  come  on  board,  and  after  looking  at 
our  cabins,  which  were  most  charmingly  arranged  and  most  com- 
fortable, and  which  were,  indeed,  beautifully  furnished,  we  paid  a 
flying  visit  to  the  "  Daedalus,"  and  admired  the  perfect  and  admira- 
ble order  which  was  perceptible  at  every  step — saw  in  the  chief 
cabin  two  splendid  engravings  of  Napoleon  and  the  Duke  of  Wel- 
lington (the  latter,  uncle  of  Captain  W ),  and  returned  to  the 

"New  World"  just  at  the  right  time,  for  very  soon  after  we  left 
the  harbor.  It  was  smooth  as  a  polished  mirror,  so  protected  is  it 
from  the  southerly  winds  that  generally  blow  here,  by  sandy  San 
Lorenzo,  and  by  a  slender  tongue  of  land  that  projects  consider- 
ably, and  by  Fronton. 

In  the  harbor  were  many  vessels,  chiefly  merchant  ships,  not 
laden  with  gold  and  silver,  but  guano ;  not  to  be  despised  in  this 
age  of  utilitarianism,  and  bringing  plenty  of  gold  and  silver  in  its 
unsavory  train.  But  we  quickly  lost  sight  of  them,  and  of  the 
town  and  fortifications ;  and  adios  to  the  beauteous  "  Ciudad  de 
los  Reyes :"  if  there  was  any  truth  in  the  old  proverb,  "  El  que 
bebe  de  las  pilas,  se  queda  en  Lima,"  we — teetotallers  as  we  are 
— should  have  staid  longer. 

I  may  mention  that  I  was  told  that  Cailao  is  sufficiently  Ameri- 
canized to  have,  in  deference  to  Yankee  tastes  and  prejudices,  be- 
sides its  own  italia  and  pisco,  timber-doodle,  mint-julep,  and  such 
concoctions.  Ice  is  extremely  plentiful.  It  is  ordinarily  frozen 
snow  from  those  giant  mountains,  which  are  so  "  convenient"  for 
the  purpose. 

Again  we  were  on  the  vast  Pacific,  and  once  more  under  the 
glorious  stars  and  stripes,  which  I  so  deeply  reverence,  honor,  and 
love.  The  evening  was  most  delightfully  calm,  and  we  were  per- 
fectly enchanted  with  our  spacious  and  beautiful  cabins,  one  of 
which  had  eight  large  windows,  and  all  wide  open,  with  the  tran- 
quil ocean  lying  like  a  great  cloudless  sky  close  to  us.  Looking 
on  that  mighty  world  of  waters  of  the  Pacific,  I  always  feel  as  if  I 
saw  further — much  further  than  on  any  other  sea.  Its  lovely 
smoothness,  and  the  sometimes  brilliant  transparency  of  the  atmos- 
phere, make  it  seem  as  if,  over  its  softly-heaving  surface,  one  look- 
ed into  very  Immensity  and* Eternity.  I  marvel  not  that  some  of 
the  tribes  of  the  ancient  Indians  imagined,  that  beyond  that  ceru- 
lean-looking ocean  was  placed  the  everlasting  heaven-land  to  which 


426  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

their  enfranchised  spirits  sailed  after  death.  On  this  account  a 
small  canoe  was  often  buried  with  them,  in  which  they  might  em- 
bark without  delay,  with  a  sufficiency  of  provisions  laid  in  for  the 
voyage.  They  believed  it  was  a  submarine  navigation  they  had 
to  perform. 

Of  course,  I  felt  this  sublime  vast  effect  was  always  assisted  and 
partly  produced  by  the  imagination,  and  the  consciousness  that  one 
might  look  from  Lima,  for  instance,  on  and  on,  if  physically  em- , 
powered,  to  New  Zealand  in  a  slanting  direction,  without  encoun- 
tering a  single  island  of  any  size  or  significance  between,  while 
from  there  again  it  is  all  ocean-! 

We  had  a  charming  dining,  and  sitting  cabin  besides,  assigned 
to  us,  which  had  four  windows.  This  was  like  a  beautiful  satin 
tent :  the  large,  long  cabin  also  was  draperied  with  bright-colored 
satin  along  its  whole  extent,  and  in  both  there  were  white  marble 
tables  with  a  profusion  of  gilding,  suberb  vases,  and  other  decora- 
tions; and  the  prettiest  possible  light  curtains  to  all  the  windows 
of  white  muslin,  embroidered  with  a  thousand  vivid  colors  (which 
curtains,  I  believe  came  from  Germany) ;  and  in  addition  to  all 
this,  we  had  most  comfortable  berths.  You  see,  on  the  Sacramen- 
to, in  far  California,  they  will  glide  along  in  a  vessel  almost  as 
luxurious  as  Cleopatra's  barque  of  old. 

The  Captain  had  thoughtfully  ordered  a  milch  goat  to  be  brought 
on  board,  which  supplied  us  with  excellent  milk,  which  I  always 
think  one  of  the  greatest  of  luxuries  on  board  ship.  A  charming, 
little,  playful  kid  accompanied  its  revered  parent,  which  often  paid 
us  a  welcome  visit  in  our  cabin !  We  had  plenty  of  books,  many 
of  which  belonged  to  the  Captain,  mostly  interesting  voyages  and 
travels,  which  I  think  interest  one  more  when  one  is  actually  trav- 
eling than  at  any  other  time. 

In  the  evening,  when  sitting  in  our  own  quiet  cabin,  looking 
from  our  eight  windows  on  the  Pacific — often  itself  like  a  huge 
melted  gold  and  crimson  sun,  so  dyed  with  the  glories  of  the  de- 
parting orb — we  heard  skillful  guitar-playing  and  excellent  singing 
in  or  near  the  neighboring  saloon.  They  were  two  musical  stew- 
ards, one  particularly  so,  who  sang  almost  every  evening  a  great 
variety  of  South  American  and  Spanish  airs.  One  was  a  Bra- 
zilian— I  believe  from  Rio — who  not  only  played  the  guitar,  but 
the  castanets  admirably  ;  the  other  a  German. 

One  of  the  passengers  was  a  son,  I  understand,  of  the  famous 
hatter,  Mr.  Beebe,  of  New  York,  who  had  crossed  the  Atlantic 
with  us  from  Liverpool  in  the  "Canada"  steamer.  He  was  going 


BRITISH  CONSUL  AT  PAYTA.  427 

out  to  California,  I  believe  for  the  second  or  third  time,  on  a  great 
hat  speculation.  I  fancy  thousands  of  those  useful  articles  were 
on  their  way  to  the  golden  land,  so  well  selected  to  please  all 
tastes  and  suit  all  fashions,  that  if  I  am  rightly  informed,  he  has 
reason  to  hope  when  he  arrives  all  will  take  off  their  hats  to  him, 
and — put  his  on. 

After  a  pleasant  voyage  we  arrived  at  Payta,  and  there  we 
saw  the  French  frigate  "  L'Algerie"  at  anchor.  Presently  Mon- 
sieur F ,  the  Commodore,  was  good  enough  to  come  and  pay  us 

a  visit,  and  invite  us  to  go  on  board  the  frigate.  He  proposed  our  first 
landing  to  see  Payta,  which  we  had  not  done  satisfactorily  before. 
We  were  soon  ready,  and  took  our  places  in  the  beautiful  French 
man-of-war's  boat.  The  men  were  a  very  fine  sailor-like  set,  and 
seemed  as  thorough  Jack-tars  as  even  our  own  John  Bulls  (or 
rather  Jack  Bulls)  ;  they  looked  as  clean  and  healthy  as  possible. 

We  glided  rapidly  along,  and  soon  landed  on  that  most  barren 

of  shores.  M.  F pointed  out  to  us  a  number  of  balsas  that 

were  hard  by.  A  young  French  gentleman  was  lately  drowned 
there,  but  I  do  not  accurately  remember  the  circumstances ;  it 
was,  however,  in  landing  at  this  place. 

I  was  anxious  to  go  and  thank  in  person  the  British  Consul  for 
the  fine  cherimoyas  he  had  the  goodness  to  send  me  when  we  were 
here  before.  I  was  truly  sorry  that,  as  I  was  not  sure  the  "New 
World"  would  stop  at  Payta,  I  had  brought  no  fruit  or  other 
offering  from  Lima  in  return  for  his  thoughtful  attention. 

We  walked  through  rather  a  curious-looking  street,  and  before 
long,  after  visiting  the  market-place,  found  ourselves  near  Mr.  Hig- 
genson's  house,  who  came  out  to  meet  us,  and  we  crossed  a  hand- 
some court,  and  soon  found  ourselves  in  a  cool,  airy  room.  It  was 
very  early  in  the  morning,  and  Mr.  Higgenson's  daughter  was  not 
yet  up.  I  am  told  she  is  a  very  handsome  and  accomplished  per- 
son, uniting  Anglo-Saxon  with  Peruvian  charms ;  for  Mrs.  Hig- 
genson  was  a  lady  of  Payta. 

The  consul  was  a  little  severe  on  our  steamer,  for  he  likened  its 
appearance  (he  had  never  seen  one  of  that  peculiar  construction 
before)  to  that  of  a  great  dead  whale  floating  helplessly  along. 
After  sitting  a  little  while,  we  took  leave  of  the  hospitable  consul, 
who  wished  us  to  stay  to  breakfast  there  :  but  we  declined,  for  we 
had  but  little  time. 

Walking  a  short  distance  through  the  town,  we  saw  a  great 
number  of  animals  laden  with  provisions  and  water*  that  had  just 
come  in  from  the  country.  I  can  not  describe  to  you  the  singular 


428  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

appearance  of  this  town,  with  a  desert  round  it  sterile  as  the  Great 
Zahara  ;  but  the  inhabitants  are,  as  I  before  informed  you,  ex- 
tremely well  supplied  with  all  the  necessaries,  and  even  luxuries 
of  life.  My  pet  aversion,  the  ambrosial  cherimoya,  with  its  com- 
prehensive flavor  (according  to  its  admirers)  of  strawberries,  papaus, 
nectarines,  cream  and  custard,  in  this  neighborhood  has  arrived  at 
the  very  climax  of  perfection.  Numbers  of  Indians  from  the 
country  were  to  be  seen,  attired  in  their  own  peculiar  costume ; 
the  women  with  long,  glossy,  black  plaits  of  hair,  streaming  from 
under  their  Guayaquil  hats,  and  sometimes  with  immense  black 
ponchos  hanging  considerably  below  their  knees. 

How  cruelly  was  this  race  treated  of  old  by  the  Spanish  con- 
querors, and  after  the  conquest  by  those  placed  in  authority  over 
them.  Arid  yet  the  Spanish  nation,  truly  generous  and  chivalrous, 
and  the  Spanish  kings  were  not  to  blame  ;  but  that  terrible  arid 
devouring  thirst  for  gold,  which  seized  on  all  the  early  colonists, 
and  hardened  them,  as  cupidity  and  the  worship  of  Mammon  only 
can,  till  their  hearts  were  petrified,  and  their  natural  feelings  of 
mercy  and  justice  obliterated. 

It  is  said  that  various  humane  edicts  and  ordinances,  which  is- 
sued from  the  throne,  were  practically  set  entirely  at  naught  in  the 
colonies.  "  Los  repartimientos,"  a  most  unjust  system  of  taxation 
was  established,  and  pushed  to  the  utmost.  In  nearly  ajl  the  dis- 
tricts, the  corregidors  from  Spain  had  scarcely  any  settled  salary, 
and  lived  on  what  they  wrung  from  the  wretched  natives. 

As  far  as  the  Indians  were  concerned,  these  functionaries  were 
monopolists  of  the  sale  of  all  the  necessaries  and  all  the  comforts 
of  existence.  The  corregidor,  when  he  went  his  round  of  visita- 
tion to  the  different  hamlets  in  the  part  of  the  country  under  his 
jurisdiction,  carried  with  him  all  such  articles,  bought  at  extrava- 
gant prices  from  the  Lima  merchants,  arid  the  Indians  were  al- 
lowed neither  to  choose  nor  to  remonstrate.  These  beardless  abo- 
rigines were  compelled  to  purchase  razors ;  their  wives,  who  de- 
sired no  vail  but  their  own  abundant  long  hair,  which  streamed 
over  their  shoulders  and  down  their  backs,  had  mantillas  forced 
upon  them,  and  so  forth  ;  and  the  unfortunate  people  were  obliged 
to  perform  a  certain  amount  of  work  (according  to  the  sum  owed) 
to  pay  the  corregidor  whatever  price  he  chose  to  set  on  his  often 
utterly  useless  wares,  and  a  tax  for  the  Crown  besides. 

The  time  within  which  this  task  was  to  be  completed,  depended 
on  the  tyrannical  fancies  or  necessities  of  the  corregidors  ;  and  it 
frequently  happened  that,  wholly  unable  to  comply  with  the  hard 


TUPAC  AMARU.  429 


conditions  imposed  upon  them,  and  to  fulfill  the  unmerciful  tasks 
their  despotic  masters  sought  to  exact  from  their  unequal  strength 
and  impoverished  energies,  they  sent  deputations  to  the  Spanish 
Viceroy,  entreating  him  to  have  compassion  on  them,  and  to  pro- 
tect them  from  their  unfeeling  oppressors.  But  long  ere  their 
humble  plaints  could  reach  the  Viceroy's  ears,  the  crafty  corregi- 
dors  had  contrived  to  tell  their  own  tale,  in  their  own  way ;  to 
exaggerate  the  non-compliance  of  the  poor  natives,  and  to  plead 
right  and  custom,  and  the  most  imperative  necessity,  for  their  un- 
justifiable extortions.  In  short,  they  continually  not  only  escaped 
all  censure  and  punishment  themselves,  but  artfully  managed  to 
have  the  wretched  aborigines  severely  chastised  for  presumed  in- 
subordination and  rebellion. 

In  1780  the  Indians,  driven  to  desperation  by  continued  despot- 
ism and  oppression,  and  seeing  no  other  chance  of  deliverance  from 
the  hateful  system  that  was  grinding  them  to  the  dust,  openly  re- 
belled. Their  chief  was  named  Tupac  Amaru.  The  first  act  of 
their  insurrectionary  violence  was  the  indiscriminate  slaughter  of 
the  justly  unpopular  corregidors,  together  with  other  colonists, 
whenever  and  wherever  they  could  accomplish  their  destruction. 

The  troops  of  Peru  and  of  Buenos  Ayres  were  united  together 
to  put  an  end  to  this  unexpected  rebellion.  A  savage  war  deso- 
lated the  entire  country  for  three  years,  during  which  gloomy 
period,  horrible  barbarities,  calling  forth  fearful  retaliations,  were 
but  too  often  practiced  ;  and  all  was  fury,  rapine,  hatred  and  re- 
venge. 

At  length  Tupac  Amaru  was  taken  prisoner,  and  condemned  to 
suffer  death.  The  fallen  warrior  was  ignominiously  dragged  to 
the  place  where  he  was  sentenced  to  be  executed  ;  and  before  his 
horror-stricken  eyes,  the  miserable  man  was  forced  to  see  his  wife 
and  children  pitilessly  butchered.  He  was  then  subjected  to  shame- 
ful and  inhuman  tortures,  and  finally  torn  into  quarters  by  four 
horses. 

There  was  another  unjust  institution  called  the  Mita,  but  its 
operation  was  chiefly  confined  to  Potosi.  Every  able-bodied  male 
was  forced  to  labor  for  the  space  of  a  year  in  the  mines,  and  at  the 
farms  the  females,  in  the  same  manner,  were  obliged  to  work  to 
acquire  for  their  masters  a  certain  specified  and  agreed-upon  profit 
within  the  assigned  period,  beyond  the  sum  required  for  their  own 
subsistence ;  but,  as  it  too  often  happened  that  their  strength 
originally  was  not  equal  to  comply  exactly  with  the  terms  of  their 
contract,  or  that  they  became  enfeebled  and  incapacitated  from 


430  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

severe  drudgery,  they  frequently  could  not  work  out  the  stipulated 
sum  in  time,  and  thus  incurred  a  debt  to  their  master,  and  were 
forced  to  labor  on  as  slaves  to  liquidate  it. 

Instead  of  diminishing,  this  debt  very  often  was  enlarged,  and 
the  poor  wretches  then  remained  positive  slaves  for  the  rest  of  their 
natural  lives ;  and  if  death  set  them  free,  the  wives  and  children 
they  left  behind  them  were  mercilessly  seized,  and  obliged  to  go  on 
with  the  task  which  they  had  failed  to  finish. 

The  food  of  these  unhappy  beings  was  bad  and  scanty,  more 
especially  in  the  manufactories;  and  the  over-worked  sufferers  were 
locked  up  from  dawn  till  night,  and  cruelly  flogged  if  their  inhuman 
task-masters  were  not  satisfied  with  the  amount  of  the  work  done, 
or  detected  any  carelessness  in  the  execution  of  it. 

It  is  really  terrible  to  reflect  on  such  scenes  of  merciless  tyranny 
on  the  one  side,  and  of  pitiable  degradation  on  the  other  :  but  such 
was  the  gentle  Mita,  and  its  operation  and  results.  It  is  easy  to 
imagine  that  the  greater  part  of  those  to  whose  fate  it  fell  to  labor 
thus  severely,  suffered  deeply  in  health,  and  in  countless,  cases  their 
strength  was  utterly  worn  out,  and  their  constitutions  irremedia- 
bly shattered,  by  the  time  their  terrible  tasks  were  accomplished, 
so  that  probably  scarcely  one  in  a  dozen  survived  to  return  to  their 
humble  homes. 

The  aboriginal  population  of  Peru,  at  the  time  of  the  conquest, 
was  stated  to  be  about  six  millions.  In  1796  a  census  was  taken, 
and  the  number  was  then  608,899.  Since  then,  till  the  War  of 
Independence,  and  the  Emancipation,  the  pure  Indian  population, 
it  appears,  gradually  continued  to  diminish. 

Those  Indians  who  live  beyond  Peru,  to  the  eastward  of  the 
mountains,  are  said  not  yet  to  be  civilized  or  reclaimed,  although 
in  particular  places  they  submitted  to  the  Missionaries  and  Jes- 
uits ;  and  most  of  the  tribes  within  the  vast  empire  of  the  Brazils, 
with  the  exception  of  a  small  number  on  the  banks  of  the  giant 
Amazon  river,  are  as  wild  and  thoroughly  uncultivated  as  on  the 
day  when  Columbus  first  discovered  the  Western  World. 

But  I  am  prosing  sadly  about  the  poor  Indians.  Will  the 
reader  forgive  me,  and  even  let  me  have  a  few  last  words  about 
fair,  beautiful,  and  far-famed  Peru?" 


CHAPTER  LIII. 

Peru — Her  internal  Communication — Her  Forts  and  Coast — Peruvian  Ag- 
riculture— Manufactures  of  inland  Peru — Commerce  of  Peru — Her  Com- 
modities— Her  Trade — Her  Government — Her  Religion — Peruvian  Fer- 
tility— Mineral  Resources — Animals — Cattle — The  Face  of  the  Country 
— The  Andes — Rivers  and  Lakes  of  Peru — Her  Coasts. 

PERU  labors  under  very  considerable  disadvantages,  with  regard 
to  inland  communication. 

The  elevated  plateaux  and  table-lands,  separated  by  deeply- 
embosomed  valleys,  and  the  gigantic  mountains  that  intervene 
between  the  coast  and  the  table-land,  render  traveling  tedious  and 
difficult.  Roads  and  bridges,  in  many  parts,  are  entirely  wanting ; 
and  in  places  where  rude  and  scarcely-distinguishable  paths  are 
found,  they  lie  along  the  perilous  edges  of  overhanging  and  rugged 
precipices,  perpendicularly  steep ;  and  these  tracks,  moreover,  are 
almost  always  so  dangerously  narrow,  that  the  sure-footed  mule 
can  alone  tread  them  with  any  security. 

Those  travelers  who  can  afford  it  are  usually  carried  on  the 
backs  of  Indians :  they  are  borne  along  in  this  way  often  for  a 
fortnight  or  three  weeks  together,  over  paths  that  lead  zig-zagging 
along,  among  rocks  and  steeps  to  all  appearance  inaccessible,  and 
through  uninhabited  wildernesses  and  unbroken  forests. 

The  means  of  necessary  internal  communication,  however,  are 
more  carefully  attended  to,  in  regions  that  lie  lower ;  and  I  am 
informed  that  the  Government  are  giving  their  attention — please 
Revolutionists  and  Pronunciados — to  a  general  system  of  road- 
making.  Perhaps,  in  time — as  engineering  difficulties  are  despised 
and  defied  in  these  days,  and  as  the  first  railroad  has  already  been 
commenced  under  Government  auspices  in  the  country — the  Peru- 
vians will  connect  their  chief  cities  by  means  of  railroads,  and  join, 
in  the  mighty  march  of  the  royal  progress  of  nations. 

A  few  rather  strong  forts  protect  the  commerce  of  Peru  on  the 
seaboard,  and  perhaps  a  couple  of  small  war-steamers  complete  the 
defensive  powers  of  the  nation.  As  for  the  standing  army,  it  is 
generally  asserted,  by  persons  of  more  experience  than  myself  on 
such  matters,  to  be  formed  of  such  materials,  and  so  inferior  in 


432  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

discipline,.  &c.,  as  to  be  useless  in  case  of  foreign  invasion,  and 
perhaps  worse  than  useless  in  case  of  domestic  dissension.* 

However  ill-provided  the  Peruvians  may  be  with  artificial 
means  of  defense  against  foreign  foes,  their  coast  presents  powerful 
natural  features  for  protecting  the  country.  Huge  rocky  walls, 
almost  perpendicular,  -and  towering  cliffs,  there  stand  like  Na- 
ture's fortresses.  All  the  powers  of  the  earth  might  be  defied 
with  proper  management  and  method.  Were  the  Peruvians  in 
general  like  the  Swiss,  they  might  perhaps  keep  the  world  at  bay ; 
but  where  so  many  of  them  are  composed  of  the  indolent,  passive 
Indian  tribes,  they  are  not  likely  ever  to  imitate  the  independent 
example  of  these  sturdy  and  hardy  mountaineers. 

Agriculture  in  Peru,  by  all  accounts,  is  still  almost  in  its  in- 
fancy ;  and  in  general  the  implements  used  in  husbandry  are  of 
rude  and  simple  construction.  Their  system  of  farming  is  com- 
monly altogether  primitive  and  unmethodical.  They  drive  their 
corn  and  sugar  mills  generally  by  means  of  oxen,  overlooking  the 
advantages  of  wind  and  water. 

The  natives  of  Peru  have  a  good  deal  of  quickness  and  ingenu- 
ity, though  their  arts  and  manufactures,  speaking  in  general,  are 
susceptible  of  very  great  improvement.  There  are  beautiful 
ponchos  of  extraordinary  fineness  made  in  the  district  of  Tarma  ; 
thick  and  excellent  blankets  on  the  table-lands,  as  well  as  other 
articles.  In  the  valleys,  cow-hides  are  made  into  traveling-cases, 
for  hammocks,  or  for  beds  and  bedding ;  and  goat-skins  into  what 
are  called  cordovans ;  mats  used  for  carpeting  are  manufactured 
from  rushes,  and  packing-cords  from  a  native  plant. 

Inland  Peru  is  celebrated  for  its  exquisite  silver  filigree-work : 
this  is  chiefly  made  at  Huamanca,  and  is  perhaps  unparalleled  for 
beauty,  delicacy,  and  durability ;  but  in  a  general  way,  the  United 
States  and  Europe,  in  the  principal  towns,  supersede  with  their 
manufactures,  to  a  great  extent,  the  less-finished  productions  of 
the  natives ;  and  in  exchange  for  gold  and  silver  or  raw  material 
these  are  plentifully  supplied  to  Peru. 

The  commerce  of  the  country  has  lately  materially  increased, 
during  a  temporarily  lull  of  foreign  and  domestic  disturbance.  Of 

*  We  left  all  of  our  friends  at  Lima  very  apprehensive  of  the  riots  and 
excesses  of  the  next  presidential  election,  which  is  now  beginning  to  be 
much  thought  of.  They  tell  me,  they  generally,  on  such  occasions,  have 
their  houses  barricaded  and  closed,  and  are  obliged  to  imprison  themselves 
strictly  the  whole  time.  Robberies,  massacres,  and  violences  are  said  to  be 
of  continual  occurrence  there.  I  only  repeat  what  I  was  told,  and  would 
gladly  believe  such  statements  exaggerated. 


PERUVIAN  COMMODITIES.  433 

the  export  trade  the  principal  articles  are  the  precious  metals, 
copper,  quicksilver,  and  tin,  and  other  metals.  While  Mexico 
was  under  the  necessity  of  sending  to  Europe  for  mercury,  Peru 
boasted  of  a  good  supply  of  her  own  at  the  mines  of  Huanca- 
Velica,  one  portion  of  which  for  two  centuries  produced  yearly 
three  thousand  quintals  ;  but  such  was  the  state  of  affairs  in  Peru 
in  the  years  '37  and  '38,  that  the  quicksilver  sold  at  two  hundred 
to  two  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  per  quintal,  while  in  London, 
at  the  same  period,  it  was  sold  at  sixty-five  dollars.  The  working 
of  the  mines  was  then  naturally  suspended ;  but  now  the  mining 
operations  have  been  revived  by  private  companies,  and  thus  some 
of  the  richest  quicksilver  mines  in  the  known  world  are  as  pro- 
ductive again  as  ever. 

The  ancient  Peruvians  formerly  used  vermilion  or  red  lead  ia 
their  colored  delineations,  but  I  know  not  if  it  is  still  found  there. 
Peruvian  bark  and  various  kinds  of  plants  for  medicinal  purposes 
are  also  exported ;  drugs,  precious  woods,  and  gums  of  different 
descriptions ;  hides,  tallow,  &c.  ;  seal,  chincilli,  and  other  skins ; 
cotton  and  wool,  and  other  articles  of  less  value. 

Peruvian  wool  is  considered  to  be  equal  to  English,  but  it  is 
customary  to  export  it  iu  a  very  dirty  condition,'which  occasions  it 
to  be  sold  at  a  reduced  price.  South  Peru  supplies  the  largest 
quantity,  but  the  vicuna  and  alpaca  are  reckoned  the  best.  Cot- 
ton is  exported  from  Payta,  Islay,  and  Arica,  but  the  annual 
quantity  is  said  not  to  be  above  thirty  thousand  quintals. 

Of  late,  saltpetre  has  become  an  article  of  considerable  trade. 
It  is  said  that  each  successive  year  now  manifests  a  rather  large 
increase  in  the  amount  of  exports.  The  imports  into  the  republic 
are  of  great  variety,  and  are  chiefly  from  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain ;  France  and  Germany  have,  however,  of  late 
introduced  a  greatly  increased  number  of  their  respective  wares. 

Probably  Peru  for  some  length  of  time  will  continue  to  receive 
vast  quantities  of  foreign-manufactured  goods,  more  particularly 
those  of  the  more  delicate  and  finished  descriptions,  while  the  differ- 
ent exporting  nations  in  exchange  for  these  will  be  not  disadvan- 
tageously  repaid  through  the  resources  of  the  enormous  mineral 
wealth  of  that  highly-favored  country.* 

In  the  year  1847  the  trade  between  the  United  States  and 
Peru  amounted  to  the  following  numbers  :  exports  from  the  United 
States  to  Peru,  192,978  dollars;  exports  from  Peru  received  in 

*  The  total  imports  in  1840  amounted  to  10,100,000  dollars,  the  total  ex- 
ports to  9,741,733  dollars. 

T 


434  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

the  United  States,  396,223  dollars. — But  enough  of  commercial 
statistics. 

The  Peruvian  Constitution,  established  finally  in  1839,  recognizes 
distinctly  executive,  legislative,  and  judicial  functions,  which  are 
thoroughly  independent  of,  and  separate  from  each  other.  The 
government,  as  you  know,  is  founded  on  popular  supremacy  and 
democratic  principles.  The  President's  term  of  service  is  for  six 
years,  and  to  him  the  executive  power  is  delegated  by  Congress. 

There  is  not,  as  in  the  United  States,  a  Vice-President ;  but  the 
president  of  the  executive  council  succeeds  to  the  presidency  in  the 
event  of  death  or  dismissal  from  office.  This  council  consists  of 
the  ministers  and  of  members  of  the  senate.  In  a  senate  and 
assembly  chosen  from  the  people  through  electoral  colleges,  resides 
the  legislative  power.  The  representatives  are  thus  apportioned  ; 
one  for  every  twenty  thousand  inhabitants. 

Judges  are  appointed  by  the  executive,  and  are  irremovable 
except  for  ill  conduct.  The  Constitution  provides  for  the  several 
subjudiciaries,  and  nominates  justices  having  separate  qualifications 
for  the  departments,  the  districts,  towns,  and  parishes.  The  oper- 
ations of  the  courts  are  said  to  be  carried  on  with  impartiality  and 
honor.  But  among  the  indispensable  qualifications  of  a  Peruvian 
judge,  knowledge  of  the  law  is  said  not  to  rank ;  and  through  the 
want  of  the  necessary  learning  on  the  part  of  the  lawyers  and  the 
arbitrator,  the  most  grave  injuries  are  not  unfrequently  inflicted 
unintentionally  on  the  unlucky  applicant* 

The  established  religion  is  Roman  Catholic,  and  none  besides  is 
tolerated.  An  Archbishop  and  several  suffragans  preside  over  the 
church.  The  archiepiscopalian  residence  is  at  Lima.  The  church 
is  stated  to  be  enormously  wealthy,  and  to  have  amassed  vast 
amounts  of  property  from  devout  donors. 

Literature  is  generally  believed  to  be  in  a  state  of  steady,  but 
slowly-progressive  development.  Enlightened  and  superior  educa- 
tion is  limited  to  a  certain  number  of  the  whites  :  the  Indians  and 
negroes  seldom  learn  any  thing  more  than  the  business  of  their 
confined  and  simple  transactions  demands. 

As  to  the  fertility  of  Peru — independently  of  its  fine  and  tropical 
climate,  which  allows  it  to  be  fruitful  in  nearly  all  the  vegetable 
productions  of  the  East  and  of  the  West  Indies — the  elevation  of 
its  various  mountains,  as  in  Mexico,  causes  the  plants  and  the 
fruits  of  all  climes  and  latitudes  to  grow  to  perfection  within  its 
extensive  limits.  Rice,  sugar,  tobacco,  cocoa,  yams,  sweet  pota- 
toes, &c.,  are  cultivated  in  the  warmer  situations ;  while  in  the 


MINERAL  RESOURCES.— CATTLE.  435 

colder,  are  wheat,  the  vine  and  quinoa  (chenopodium  quinoa). 
The  grapes  are  good,  but  the  wine  made  from  them  is  indifferent. 

Maize  is  cultivated,  and  forms  the  common  diet  of  the  popu- 
lation. The  dried  leaf  of  the  erythroxylon  coca  is  much  used  by 
Peruvians  for  chewing,  as  the  betel  is  in  the  East.  A  kind  of 
melancholy  madness,  Poppig  says,  is  brought  on  by  its  use ;  but 
other  authorities  are  of  opinion  that  it  produces  no  deleterious 
effects.  The  chinchona,  or  Peruvian  bark,  is  indigenous  and  in 
great  abundance  :  it  grows  at  the  elevation  often  or  twelve  thou- 
sand feet  and  abounds  mostly  in  the  provinces  of  the  north. 

Like  those  of  Mexico,  the  mineral  resources  of  Peru  are  univers- 
ally believed  to  be  inexhaustible.  The  entire  country  is  one  mighty 
mound  of  incalculable  mineral  wealth  ;  the  rivers,  and  streams, 
and  mountains  are  glittering  and  sparkling  with  gold,  with  silver, 
and  with  precious  stones.  It  is  stated  that  the  greater  part  of  the 
mines  actually  being  worked  at  present,  are  situated  in  the  Cerro 
de  Pisco  in  the  Junin  department ;  but  I  hear  their  amount  of 
produce  has  considerably  fallen  off  since  the  last  revolutionary 
troubles,  which  left  behind  them  so  much  anarchy,  and  such  a 
depressing  sense  of  doubt  and  insecurity.  M'Culloch  is  inclined  to 
estimate  the  average  annual  value  of  the  mines  of  gold  and  silver 
of  Peru  at  from  seven  hundred  to  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
pounds  sterling. 

Peruvian  animals  do  not  differ  much  from  those  of  other  parts 
of  South  America.  The  American  lion  or  puma  ;  the  uturuncu  (a 
kind  of  tiger) ;  a  black  bear  that  inhabits  the  mountains ;  the 
skunk;  a  number  of  varieties  of  deer,  armadillos,  bears,  &c.,  are 
among  the  catalogue  of  Peruvian  wild  animals,  and  are  hunted 
by  the  natives.  The  llama,  vicuna,  alpaca,  and  guanaco,  and 
many  others,  are  either  used  as  beasts  of  burden,  or  are  prized  for 
their  skin  and  wool.  In  the  rivers  are  alligators.  Reptiles  are 
not  so  abundant  or  troublesome  as  nearer  the  Equator. 

The  cattle  of  Peru  are  not  particularly  large,  but  yet  are  on  an 
equality  with  the  generality  of  those  in  Great  Britain  and  Bel- 
gium. The  meat  is  generally  tender,  well-flavored,  and  juicy,  es- 
pecially when  fed  on  Lucerne  grass.  The  bones  are  very  small. 
In  the  mountains,  black  cattle  thrive  well ;  but  rapidly  pine,  fall 
away,  and  die  on  the  low  lands  of  the  coast.  Mules  and  horses 
are  usually  of  an  ordinary  size,  but  goats,  swine,  &c.,  grow  very 
large  in  Peru,  and  are  reckoned  of  a  superior  sort. 

Sheep,  of  all  foreign  animals  acclimated  in  Peru,  seem  to  some 
to  have  succeeded  the  best.  At  an  elevation  of  twelve  or  fourteen 


436  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  on  the  vast  commons  and 
pasture  grounds  of  the  Andes,  they  have  increased  to  an  extraor- 
dinary degree.  On  the  coast  but  few  sheep  are  bred,  but  during 
particular  months,  vast  flocks  are  driven  from  the  interior,  and 
fattened  for  the  market  of  Lima.  A  usual  bargain  between  the 
drovers  and  the  farmers  is  to  give  the  lambs  for  pasturage,  the 
latter  calculating  on  receiving  one  hundred  arid  fifty  lambs  from 
every  hundred  ewes. 

In  addition  to  this  increase,  which  surpasses  that  in  England, 
there  are  lambs  twice  a  year,  commonly  in  June  and  December. 
Hitherto  little  care  has  been  taken  by  the  breeders  to  improve  the 
wool,  but  this  is  fast  becoming  here  an  increased  article  of  export. 
More  attention,  without  doubt,  will  be  speedily  drawn  to  the  subject. 

This  fertile  country  has  on  the  north  the  republic  of  the  Ecua- 
dor; on  the  south  arid  southeast  it  is  bounded  by  Bolivia,  and  on 
the  east  by  the  vast  empire  of  the  Brazils,  the  Pacific  being  on  the 
west.  Its  greatest  length  from  S.S.E.  to  N.N.W.  is  calculated 
to  be  about  fifteen  hundred  miles,  and  its  breadth  varies  much  ; 
at  some  parts  it  is  six  hundred  miles.  Its  estimated  area  is  five 
hundred  thousand  square  miles. 

The  whole  of  the  country  is  traversed  by  the  Cordilleras  of  the 
Andes.  The  eastern  range  of  these  mountains  approaches  to 
within  from  thirty  to  a  hundred  miles  of  the  Pacific  coast.  The 
country  is  naturally  divided  into  three  separate  regions  ;  consisting 
firstly,  of  the  slope  between  the  Andes  and  the  coast ;  secondly,  the 
mountain  regions  of  the  Andes  themselves  ;  thirdly,  that  part  lying 
east  of  the  Cordilleras,  forming  part  of  the  great  basin  of  the 
Amazon. 

These  divisions  are  all  very  dissimiliar  in  character.  Between 
the  Tumbez  river  and  the  Leche,  the  coast  region  is  almost  a 
•desert — that  is  to  say,  where  it  is  not  traversed  by  streams,  or  is 
not  susceptible  of  artificial  irrigation  :  in  such  parts  it  is  principal- 
ly composed  of  arid,  sandy,  and  sterile  wastes,  and  is  barren  and 
desolate.  Immediately  upon  the  coast  lie  all  the  principal  settle- 
ments made  by  the  Spaniards. 

The  Andes  in  Peru  consist  of  two  main  chains  or  Cordilleras, 
in  different  parts  connected  by  intersecting  ranges,  and  inclosing 
various  extensive  and  splendid  valleys.  A  mighty  cluster  of 
mountains  rear  their  lofty  crests  around  Cuzco,  occupying  probably 
three  times  the  extent  of  Switzerland.  Around  Pasco  (in  latitude 
13°  south)  is  another  knot  that  surrounds  the  plain  of  Bornbon, 
thirteen  thousand  five  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  ocean, 


THE  CORDILLERAS.  437 

and  in  which  are  found  the  productive  and  valuable  silver  mines  of 
the  Cerro  Pasco. 

The  loftiest  summits  of  the  Peruvian  Andes  are  toward  the 
south,  where  the  Nevada  da  Chuquibamba  reaches  to  twenty-one 
thousand  feet  in  height.  Several  others,  surrounding  the  noble 
valley  of  Desaguadero,  may  also  approach  nearly  to  this  elevation, 
indeed  some  may  equal  or  transcend  it.  In  Peru,  the  west  Cor- 
dillera is  the  loftiest  at  the  mountain  knot  of  Pasco,  the  Andes 
separating  into  three  collateral  chains,  which  proceeding  northward, 
divide  the  basins  of  the  Maranon,  Huallaga,  and  Ucayale.  The 
last  range  of  the  Andes  to  the  east,  in  Peru,  extends  between  the 
sixth  and  fifteenth  parallels,  to  a  distance  varying  from  two  to  four 
hundred  miles  from  the  Pacific,  and  divides  the  basin  of  the 
Ucayale  from  those  of  the  Yavari,  Beni,  and  other  affluxes  to  the 
mighty  Amazon. 

The  space  called  the  Sierra,  which  is  inclosed  between  the 
colossal  ridges  of  the  Western  and  Eastern  Cordilleras,  is  in  some 
parts  occupied  by  mountains  and  sterile  rocks  ;  in  others,  by  table- 
lands, on  which  grows  a  short  fine  grass,  and  by  a  considerable 
tract  of  hilly  pasture-ground  ;  and  in  other  parts,  again,  by  fertile 
and  extensive  valleys,  that  formerly  supported  a  large  population. 

The  country  east  of  the  Cordilleras,  the  third  region,  is  still 
comparatively  unknown.  It  is  almost  buried  in  forests,  all  but 
impenetrable,  and  apparently  interminable,  and  can  hardly  with 
justice  be  said  to  be  a  part  of  Peru,  being  occupied  solely  by  a  few 
devoted  missionaries  and  by  tribes  of  independent  Indians. 

In  the  great  Peruvian  Andes,  the  mightiest  and  largest  rivers 
in  the  world  have  their  source.  The  Tunguragua,  regarded  in 
general  as  the  proper  source  of  that  sublime  river  the  Amazon, 
and  its  vast  and  majestic  confluents,  Huallaga  and  Ucayale,  the 
latter  of  which  is  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  Pare  river  with 
the  Apurimac,  have  their  sources  on  the  eastern  Bide  of  the  west- 
ern chain  of  the  Cordilleras,  and  flow  through,  with  many  tortu- 
ous windings,  in  a  northerly  direction,  until  they  pass  the  bounda- 
ries of  the  country. 

These  mighty  rivers  are  mostly  navigable,  and  with  the  desira- 
ble assistance  of  steam  navigation,  without  doubt,  ere  a  lengthened 
period  has  elapsed,  they  will  carry  the  wealth  of  this  distant  region 
across  the  continent  to  the  ports  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

Peru  has  but  few  lakes,  but  boasts  that  of  Titicaca,  which  is 
the  largest  and  most  elevated  lake  in  the  whole  of  South  America. 
This,  however,  is  partly  in  the  neighboring  country  of  Bolivia, 


438  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

being  inclosed  by  the  Cordilleras,  south  of  the  table-land  of  Cuzco. 
It  is  remarkably  irregular  in  its  outline  :  a  number  of  head-lands 
divide  it  into  a  main  body  of  oblong  shape,  and  several  subsidiary 
portions.  Its  height  above  the  sea  is  about  12,795  feet,  and  its 
area  4000  square  miles,  and  in  many  places  it  is  reported  to  be 
500  feet  deep.  Many  small  mountainous  islands  are  contained 
in  it,  and  the  lake  takes  its  name,  which  signifies  the  "  Leaden 
Mountain,"  from  the  largest.  On  this  island,  which  is  generally 
uncultivated,  though  extremely  fertile,  tradition  places  the  first  ap- 
pearance of  Manco  Capac. 

The  "remaining  lakes  in  Peru  are  small,  comparatively  speaking ; 
but  are  the  sources  from  whence  all  the  noble  rivers  that  pursue 
an  eastward  course  take  their  beginning.  As  to  the  rivers  of  the 
coast,  they  are  of  little  account,  being,  shallow,  small,  and  incap- 
able of  navigation. 

The  coasts  are  lofty  and  bold  throughout.  Some  miles  of  a 
loose  sandy  desert  intervene  in  the  northern  provinces,  between 
the  high  lands  and  the  Pacific ;  but  generally  the  lofty  cliffs 
approach  close  to  the  shore,  which  perhaps,  in  an  extent  of  one 
thousand  six  hundred  miles,  has  not  a  dozen  really  secure  harbors. 
Of  these  the  best  are  Callao,  Payta,  Salina,  Sechura,  Pisco,  Islay, 
and  some  few  others.  Lambayeque  and  Truxillo  have  merely 
open  roadsteads.  Vessels  are  obliged  to  go  within  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  before  they  can  anchor,  and  the  terrific  swell  that  rolls  with 
unbroken  force  from  the  vast  Pacific,  causes  a  prodigious  and 
perilous  surf. 


CHAPTER    LIV. 

Departure  from  Peru — On  board  the  "New  World" — The  nautical  Ladies— 
Chimborazo  and  Cotopaxi — The  Volcanoes  of  the  Cordillera — Crater  of 
Cotopaxi — A  narrow  Escape — Arrival  at  Panama — An  Amateur  Concert 
— Departure  from  Panama — Scene  occasioned  by  a  dead  Mule — Badness 
of  the  Road — Arrival  at  Cruces. 

ONCE  more  we  are  in  the  French  man-of-war's  boat,  taking  our 
leave  of  balsas,  cherimoyas,  and  the  shores  of  Peru. 

Before  we  started  we  met  a  gentleman  who  informed  us  the 
American  steamer  was  going  almost  immediately ;  so  we  gave  up 
visiting  '  L'Algerie  ;'  but  we  went  close  to  her,  and  beautiful  she 
looked  and  in  perfect  order ;  and  then  we  hastened  to  our  dis- 
paraged and  maligned  steamer,  which  reminded  us,  instead  of  a 


NAUTICAL  LADIES.  439 

dead  whale,  of  the  river-palaces  of  the  Mississippi,  full  of  life  and 
power. 

With  much  regret  we  took  leave  of  Monsieur  F ,  and  sent 

by  him  a  message  to  say,  how  sorry  we  were  not  to  see  again  his 
charming  wife.  I  can  never  forget  their  amiability  and  cordial 
kindness.  Indeed  having  met  them  will  ever  be  among  the  most 
pleasant  recollections  of  my  travel. 

On  going  on  board  the  "  New  World,"  we  found  we  were  going 
to  take  a  little  turn  for  an  hour  or  two,  to  give  some  nautical 
recreation  to  two  or  three  Paytian  ladies,  who  were  friends  of  the 
American  Consul's  family.  Had  we  known  this,  we  might  have 

staid  and  visited  Madame  F and  "  L'Algerie."  They  all 

came  on  board  in  high  glee ;  but  we  had  not  proceeded  far  ere  we 
heard  many  dolorous  plaints  from  these  inexperienced  voyagers : 
their  heads  ached  with  the  motion  of  the  ship  :  they  were  giddy  : 
"  Se  marea  Vm.,  Senoritas."  "  Es  el  primer  viaje,  Caballero!" 
Soon  after  they  were  obliged  to  confess  they  did  not  feel  superla- 
tively well,  and  seemed  to  wish  the  Captain  to  land  them  at  once, 
though  it  was  not  easy,  in  the  middle  of  the  water.  "Despachese 
V.  vamos !"  to  the  Captain.  This,  however,  was  also  difficult. 
The  steamer  had  coals  on  board  to  serve  her  as  far  as  San  Fran- 
cisco (Captain  W said  he  had  never  seen  a  vessel  so  deep  in 

the  water),  and  her  movements  thereby  were  not  accelerated. 

Finding  they  must  take  it  philosophically,  the  ladies  of  Payta 
behaved  like  heroines,  rallied  one  another  on  their  bad  sailorship,  and 
laughed  away  their  discomfort.  "  Que  tertulia  tan.alegre  !"  "  Si, 
pero — a  fe  rnia  me  mareo."  "  Vaya,  vaya,  una  idea,  Conchita  !" 
The  Captain,  too,  assures  them  it  is  only  fancy — they  are  quite 
mistaken.  Ah!  the  "Norte  Americanos"  are  so  funny!  and  they 
laugh — how  they  laugh  ! — in  a  pretty,  silvery-sounding  chorus, 
and  then  stop  to  ask  the  captain  if  a  storm  has  not  come  on  (it  is 
as  smooth  as  a  mirror).  But  great  is  the  delight  when  they  near 
Payta  again  !  Then  they  suddenly  feel  overwhelmed  with  the 
charms  and  pleasures  of  their  little  voyage,  though  it  was  so  "bor- 
rascoso — Ah  !  habia  peligro  de  naufragar."  They  don't  feel  quite 
sure  they  have  not  been  down  to  the  bottom  and  back  again ;  the 
"  Capitan"  tells  them  they  are  perfect  sailors ;  he  would  ask  no 
better  wife  than  the  Sefiorita  Conchita,  born  to  be  a  "  skipperina." 
Ah,  Capitan  !  our  voyage  has  been  charming — "  a  las  mil  mara- 
villas  !  pero — que  prodigio  !"  They  never  saw  Payta  look  half  so 
beautiful  before  :  the  land  looked  lovely,  quite  so  !  paradisiacally 
charming,  positively  !  (such  an  Arabia  Petrea  as  it  was  !) 


TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 


At  last  they  trip,  with  their  white-satined  little  feet,  into  the 
boat,  and  I  doubt  not  laughed  right  merrily  during  their  happy 
disembarkation.  But  perhaps  after  this  first  trial  they  will  take 
courage  to  make  a  voyage  to  Guayaquil  next  time,  especially  as 
they  so  nobly  braved  such  awful  terrors  and  sea-sickness. 

And  now  indeed  farewell  to  Peru.  Does  the  reader  remember 
the  curious  island  I  mentioned,  not  far  from  Guayaquil,  bearing 
resemblance  to  a  corpse  ?  We  were  not  to  stop  at  Guayaquil, 
and  I  had  no  idea  we  should  go  near  the  land ;  but  by  chance 
looking  out  of  my  cabin- window — it  was  quite  early  in  the  morn- 
ing— I  beheld  that  singular  isle  not  far  of,  and  knew  it  again  in- 
stantaneously. 

We  were  then  near  Guayaquil.  Bright  and  lovely  grew  the 
morning,  as  we  sped  on  ;  extraordinarily  clear  grew  the  air  ;  and, 
oh !  delight !  there  were  the  giant  mountains.  There  stood 
glorious  old  Chimborazo,  once  supposed  to  be  the  highest  mountain 
in  the  world,  but  now  a  dethroned  king,  yet  very  monarch-like 
still ;  shining  with  its  never-melted  snows,  as  if,  like  Shelley's 
Moon,  it  was  "  with  white  fire  laden" — and  those  white  fires 
seemed  to  brighten  the  very  daylight  around. 

I  imagine  another  mighty  mountain  I  saw,  that  seemed  tower- 
ing almost  as  high,  was  Cotopaxi ;  I  have  been  told,  at  least, 
since,  that  they  were  both  visible  that  morning.  Chimborazo  is 
supposed  by  some  authors,  to  be  an  extinguished  volcano ;  if  so, 
perhaps  some  day  the  Moon  of  Sno\V  that  crowns  its  gigantic 
pea«k,  will  be  melted  by  the  terrific  fires  that  are  pent  up  in  its  un- 
fathomable arid  awful  caverns,  and  the  huge  mountain  will  return 
to  its  dangerous  activity,  and  recover  from  its  long-continued  trance 
of"  suspended  animation." 

As  to  their  geological  structure,  the  great  thickness  and  extent 
of  the  porphyritic  and  schistose  rock,  are  said  to  be  the  only  phe- 
nomena by  which  the  Andes  are  distinguished  from  the  mountains 
of  Europe.  The  crest  of  the  Andes  is  universally  covered  with 
basalts,  porphyries,  green-stone,  and  clink-stone.  Divided  into 
columns,  these  rocks  look  at  a  distance  like  vast  assemblages  of 
dilapidated  and  pinnacled  towers.  Without  any  admixture,  the 
porphyries  of  Chimborazo  are  eleven  thousand  four  hundred  feet 
in  thickness  ;  and  the  pure  quartz  to  the  west  of  Caxamarca  is 
nine  thousand  feet,  and  the  sandstone  of  the  neighborhood  of 
Cuenca,  four  thousand  eight  hundred  feet ;  while  granite  and 
primitive  limestone  in  Europe,  I  believe,  constitute  the  summits  of 
mountain  chains. 


THE  CRATER  OF  COTOPAXI.  441 

Some  of  the  volcanoes  of  the  Cordillera  throw  out  scorified 
rocks,  or  water,  and  often  clay,  with  a  mixture  of  carbon  and 
sulphur.  The  most  elevated  of  the  mountains  of  the  Andes  from 
which  in  late  years  there  have  been  eruptions,  is  Cotopaxi.  Its 
height  is  18,890  feet.  This  volcano  in  1758,  shot  its  formidable 
flames  to  a  height  of  2700  feet  above  the  edge  of  the  crater.  la 
the  eruption  of  1744,  its  roaring  was  heard  in  Honda  at  a  distance 
of  two  hundred  leagues. 

The  eruption  of  1803  was  preceded  by  an  awful  phenomenon. 
The  snows  covering  the  mountain  suddenly  melted.  For  above 
twenty  years  no  distinguishable  vapor  or  cloud  of  smoke  had  risen 
from  the  crater ;  but  in  one  night  the  subterranean  fire  had  so 
rapidly  done  its  work,  that  the  outward  walls  of  the  cone  were 
heated  till  they  had  become  bare,  and  exhibited  the  black  color 
that  belongs  to  vitrified  scoriae.  Humboldt  heard  at  the  port  of 
Guayaquil,  fifty- two  leagues  from  the  edge  of  the  crater,  the 
roaring  of  Cotopaxi  day  and  night,  like  almost  continual  dis- 
charges of  artillery. 

By  degrees  we  began  to  advance  a  little  quicker,  as  our  coal 
somewhat  diminished.  We  fell  in  with  the  English  steamer,  and 
the  Captain  tried  to  speak  her,  but  in  vain.  It  was  in  the  even- 
ing, and  at  first  we  thought  we  saw  lights  on  shore,  and  fancied 
that  we  must  be  near  the  coast,  but  we  soon  observed  that  those 
lights  changed  their  bearings,  and  saw  that  it  must  be  a  ship. 

Soon  after,  the  Captain  sent  us  down  word  that  it  was  the 
English  mail  steamer.  Cosmopolite  as  I  am,  to  a  certain  extent 
— I  felt  that  that  steamer  looked  like  a  little  bit  of  our  "  father- 
land," sailing  as  we  were  on  the  great  Pacific  in  an  American 
ship — though  under  the  shadow  of  the  stars  and  stripes  I  always 
feel  at  home,  "  un  poco  mas  o  menos,"  as  the  Mexicans  so  often 
say. 

One  morning  a  huge  shark,  that  had  been  pertinaciously  follow- 
ing our  vessel,  was  caught,  but  the  floundering  monster  got  loose 
again.  We  saw  a  great  number  of  whales  another  day,  spouting 
up  splendid  fountains  of  water  :  it  was  a  beautiful  sight. 

We  had  an  alarm,  which  did  not,  however,  last  long,  one  night. 
We  had  been  watching  the  beautiful  phosphorescence  on  the 
cloven  waters,  when,  on  a  sudden,  the  bell  was  rung  sharply  and 
violently,  and  almost  immediately  the  engine  stopped.  Soon,  very 
soon  after,  we  saw  from  the  cabin  windows  an  enormous  black 
object  drifting  by,  so  close  that  we  fancied  it  must  touch  the  side 
of  the  steamer.  It  was  a  ship.  She  had  crossed  our  track,  and  a 

T* 


442  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

collision  was  avoided  by  a  mere  hair's  breadth.  I  think  I  have 
not  yet  spoken  of  the  extraordinary  fog-'foanks  we  saw  on  our 
previous  voyage.  Really  we  could  hardly  believe  that  it  was  not 
land,  an  immense  island,  that  we  were  looking  at. 

On  our  voyage  we  saw  one  or  two  huge  merchant  ships,  walk- 
ing the  waters  gloriously  indeed  ;  one  especially  of  great  size,  with 
all  her  sails  set,  that  looked  like  a  perfect  castle  of  canvas.  Then 
we  had  glorious  Pacific  sunsets  and  sun-risings,  and  splendid 
weather  almost  the  whole  way. 

At  length  we  found  ourselves  once  more  in  the  Bay  of  Panama. 
We  felt  quite  sorry  to  leave  our  beautiful  and  comfortable  cabin ; 
and  I  shall  always  feel  grateful  to  the  Captain  of  the  "  New 
World,"  for  his  obliging  civilities  and  attentions  toward  us.  We 
stopped  only  a  day  or  two  at  Panama,  where,  according  to  a 
previous  invitation,  we  remained  under  the  hospitable  roof  of  the 
English  Consul. 

I  was  very  anxious  to  get  our  muling  and  canoeing  over,  as 
the  rainy  season  was  becoming  worse  and  worse.  I  also  longed  to 
reach  Jamaica,  to  possess  myself  of  the  dear  home-letters  I  ex- 
pected to  find  there.  Mules  were  quickly  secured  ;  and  first 
Monday,  but  afterward,  from  some  unavoidable  delay,  Tuesday 
was  appointed  for  our  transit  across  the  Isthmus. 

A  pleasant  little  amateur  concert  took  place  at  Mr.  P 's, 

the  second  evening  we  were  there.  We  met  again  our  amiable 

French  friends.  Some  English  ladies,  and  Mrs.  L ,  a  lady  of 

New  Granada,  married  to  the  English  Vice-Consul,  were  there 

too ;  Mrs.  L ,  with  a  nice  little  girl,  one  of  her  numerous 

children,  who  seemed  hardly  to  understand  English.  The  child 
appeared  passionately  fond  of  music,  and  remained  as  if  glued  to 

the  piano-forte.  Madame  H o  most  kindly  lent  us  side-saddles 

for  our  ride,  which  materially  contributed  to  our  comfort. 

The  morning  we  were  to  start,  the  pre-payment  for  the  mules 
occupied  some  little  time — no  slight  affair  when  you  have  to  pay 
eighty  or  ninety  dollars  in  French  franc  pieces,  which  we  had  to 
do  at  Panama.  After  this  was  satisfactorily  concluded  (the  price, 
however,  having  been  raised  on  account  of  the  dreadful  state  of 

the  roads),  we  were  preparing  to  start,  when  Mr.  P ,  who 

with  his  daughter  was  kindly  intending  to  ride  a  few  miles  with 
us,  was  hastily  summoned  to  give  his  advice  with  respect  to  a 
poor  sailor,  who  had  just  broken  his  leg  in  an  English  ship  in  the 
harbor.  He  was  sent,  without  any  unnecessary  delay,  to  the 
hospital.  Poor  fellow  !  perhaps  he  had  gone  unharmed  through 


DEPARTURE  FROM  PANAMA.  443 

many  a  savage  tempest  to  meet  with  so  serious  a  misfortune  in 
the  peaceful  harbor. 

At  last  we  started,  and  rode  gently  through  the  streets  and 
plazas  of  Panama,  which  reminded  me,  among  other  ruined  places, 
of  beautiful  Messina,  which  we  saw  almost  directly  after  it  had 
suffered  from  a  third  bombardment  during  the  last  revolutionary 
troubles  of  Sicily.  Yet  was  Panama  lovely,  as  if  dilapidation  be- 
came it.  We  had  quite  a  gay  cavalcade  :  Mr.  P on  a  beau- 
tiful horse,  Miss  P ditto,  young  M.  H o,  who  amiably 

came  also  to  accompany  us  a  little  way  out  of  the  city,  and  M. 
Santa  Maria,  to  whom  the  mules  belonged,  who  was  to  go  with 
us  himself  the  whole  way  to  Cruces. 

M.  H o  (by  his  friends  always  called  Pepe,  the  diminutive,  as  I 

am  informed,  of  Jose)  was  on  a  fiery  steed,  which  he  was  trying,  I 
believe,  for  the  first  time.  We  were  all  gently  cantering  on,  having 
just  left  the  suburbs  of  the  city  behind  us,  when  his  horse  became 
restive,  and  played  all  sorts  of  curious  antics ;  waltzing  round 
without  partner  or  music,  and  performing  many  other  eccentricities. 
He  was  obliged  to  leave  us,  which  took  much  from  the  pictur- 
esqueness  of  our  cavalcade,  for  his  wild-looking,  plunging,  prancing- 
about  courser,  that  "  caracoieared "  so  finely,  and  his  gay  poncho 
streaming  from  his  shoulders,  and  all  the  handsome  Panamanian 
accoutrements,  that  made  him  look  so  South  American,  or  rather 
so  like  a  Spanish  caballero  merely  a  little  South  Americanized — 
were  not  a  sight  to  be  seen  every  day. 

We  were  already  at  a  good  distance  from  Panama,  and  soon 

after  our  kind  friends,  Mr.  and  Miss  P ,  said  good-by  to  us ; 

and  on  we  journeyed,  finding  the  sun  terrifically  hot,  and  glad  to 
see  some  prospect  of  shade  ahead,  and  wondering  whether  this  was 
really  a  rainy  season  (soon  we  were  convinced) !  A  miserable 
looking  man,  on  a  miserable  looking  mule,  was  following  the  same 

road  we  were  (to  Cruces),  Mr.  P had  entered  into  a  little 

conversation  with  him,  and  the  poor  emaciated  being  told  him  he 
had  just  come  from  California,  from  the  mines,  where  he  suffered 
greatly  from  exposure,  and  from  standing  up  to  his  waist  in  water 
often,  till  it  brought  on  a  particular  kind  of  paralysis  that  is  said  to 
be  very  common  at  the  California  mines,  and  incurable. 

We  had  stopped  for  ten  minutes  or  so,  to  take  leave  of  our 
friends,  and  the  poor,  wretched  object  on  a  mule,  that  looked  as  if 
it  also  had  been  disappointed  in  California,  and  was  returning  in 
starvation  and  disgust,  with  its  long-eared  head  almost  bowed  to 
the  ground,  had  got  the  start  of  us.  Not  very  long  afterward,  at 


444  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

a  very  narrow  part  of  the  road,  where  it  ran  between  two  walls  of 
slippery  cliffs,  this  very  mule,  dead,  and  obstructing  the  path,  was 
displayed  to  the  horror-struck  eyes  of  his  quadruped  relations. 
"  Arre,"  shrieked  the  rnozos.  There  was  scarcely  any  room  for 
them  to  step  on  one  side,  and  the  banks  were  too  steep  for  the 
laden  mules  to  climb ;  but  they  refused  to  pass  over  their  fallen 
fellow-creature.  They  would  not  trample  on  their  brother,  laid 
low  in  the  dust — O  !  mule,  mule,  how  unlike  art  thou  to  man  ! 

Then  ensued  a  scene  that  baffles  all  powers  of  description.  We 
were  first  alarmed  by  the  leading  baggage-mule  charging  back 
upon  us,  with  his  eyes  starting  out  of  his  head,  and  looking  per 
fectly  mad  with  terror  and  horror.  Then  the  others  caught  sight 
of  the  dreaded  object,  and  were  equally  horrified  with  the  fugleman 
of  their  party.  Again  and  again  the  yelling  muleteers  and  mozoa 
strove  to  drive  them  over  the  obstruction ;  shrieks,  blows,  shouts, 
gesticulations,  thrusts,  threats,  all  were  in  vain.  Such  a  melee  of 
men  and  mules,  legs,  arms,  sticks,  tails,  trunks,  heels,  long  ears, 
shoes,  sombreros,  and  portmanteaus  1  never  beheld,  and  the  scene 
and  the  noise  were  appalling. 

All  seemed  in  vain.  I  don't  know  which  appeared  the  maddest, 
the  mules  or  the  men ;  the  worst  of  all,  perhaps,  was  poor  Senoi 
Santa  Maria — the  mozos  drove  (or  tried  to  drive)  the  mules,  and 
he  drove  the  mozos.  As  to  the  mules,  the  poor,  insane  creatures, 
snorting,  trembling,  plunging,  and  half  jumping  one  over  the  other, 
seemed  as  if  they  could  not  overcome  their  terror,  and  their  intense 
aversion  to  touch  the  body  of  their  lifeless  companion.  The  men 
tried  to  drag  the  dead  mule  up  the  steep  banks,  but  they  could  not 
manage  it,  so  the  battle  recommenced. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  fray,  with  the  most  extraordinary  in- 
trepidity, I  had — run  away.  Now  if  the  reader  thinks  this  para- 
doxical, let  me  inform  him  that  it  required  some  courage,  not  being 
a  fly,  to  clamber  up  the  sides  of  a  perpendicular  precipice  of  glass, 
for  such  pretty  nearly  was  the  wall  of  rock  on  either  side  of  us.  T 
was  not  alone  in  this  act  of  glorious  valor.  We  all,  by  common 
consent,  slipped  from  our  saddles  at  the  same  moment,  and  scram- 
bled up  that  horrible  bank ;  it  would  have  been  perishing  very 
ignominiously  to  be  squeezed  flat  between  two  of  our  own  trunks, 
and  kicked  out  of  the  world  by  refractory  mules. 

As  for  the  mules,  they  submitted  at  last :  probably,  however, 
they  had  so  lost  their  mulish  senses  in  the  confusion,  that  they  did 
not  know  which  way  they  were  going.  1  saw  some  of  them  taking 
a  mad  flying  leap  over  their  poor  fallen  fellow-brute,  and  the  others 


BADNESS  OF  THE  ROAD.  445 

instinctively  followed.  Senior  Santa  Maria  informed  us  afterward, 
not  a  single  mule  touched  the  body  of  the  dead  one,  not  even  the 
heaviest  laden.  There  is  something  very  touching,  I  think,  in  the 
respect  shown  by  the  poor  animals  for  their  fellow-comrade,  and 
for  death,  s 

"We  passed  afterward  many  other  dead  mules,  but  none  that  had 
died,  poor  fellows,  so  inconveniently  as  that  one.  It  was  just  in, 
the  most  narrow  and  difficult  pass  of  the  route.  Poor  things  !  that 
horribly  bad  road  tries  their  strength  so  dreadfully !  They  are 
generally  dragged  on  one  side  of  the  pathway ;  and,  except  from 
the  shocking  stench,  they  caused  us  no  annoyance.  What  became 
of  the  unfortunate  paralytic  Californian  we  never  knew. 

At  one  place  where  we  stopped  to  let  the  mules  drink — a  very 
•wild,  romantic-looking  spot — there  were  a  number  of  natives 
crouched  under  the  trees,  talking  and  laughing.  One,  who  was 
huddled  up  all  of  a  heap,  appeared  as  if  he  had  no  particular  feat- 
ures or  form  of  his  own,  looking,  as  uncouth  people  do  sometimes, 
as  if  he  was  merely  a  ibrtuitous  concourse  of  atoms ;  he  bore  evi- 
dently a  strong  dislike  to  the  Americans.  "  Ah  !  Yankis  !  ah  ! 
Yankis !  Go-head!  Aha!  Go!  come!  ho!  head-ago!"  he  kept 
calling  out,  and  repeatedly  mimicking  and  caricaturing  some  one 
pushing  impatiently  along.  I  remember  almost  the  same  thing 
happened  on  our  first  visit  to  the  Isthmus. 

The  road  was  execrable.  Imagine  the  great  wall  of  China 
pulled  down  over  it,  and  scattered  in  huge  blocks  and  rugged  frag- 
ments along  it,  in  all  possible  irregularity  and  confusion ;  and  oc- 
casionally rushing  streams  swollen  by  the  rain,  dashing  and  roaring 
across  the  rocky  road,  through  which  the  careful  mules  half-waded, 
half-swam.  At  times  you  have  to  clamber  up  and  down  a  curious 
kind  of  steep  staircase  or  rocky  ladder,  half-natural  and  half-arti- 
ficial, some  short,  some  long,  but  all  prodigiously  nigged  and  rough, 
and  startling  us  with  their  apparent  impracticability. 

We  progressed  tediously  along  from  one  "  pantano"  (marsh,  or 
pool)  to  another.  My  mule,  though  a  very  good  one,  fell  and 
scrambled  up  again  three  limes  ;  luckily  for  me,  I  kept  on  the 
saddle.  I  generally  went  first,  and  thus  had  to  experimentalize 
and  choose  the  road.  The  patience  and  prudence  of  the  mules  are 
extreme.  They  will  stand  sometimes  in  a  brown  study,  pondering 
over  the  path,  and  then  seem  to  feel  their  way  as  if  their  hoots 
were  hands. 

We  suddenly  encountered  at  a  narrow  turn  in  the  road,  some 
extraordinary  looking  affairs  ;  some  like  gibbets,  others  like  fittings 


TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 


for  a  theatre,  benches,  lumber,  railings,  posts,  &c.  ;  and  the  men- 
mules,  jwho  were  carrying  them,  seemed  sorely  fatigued.  We  saw 
afterward  other  parts  of  the  same  huge  nondescript  laid  by  the  side 
of  the  path ;  I  suppose  temporarily,  till  the  peons  had  rested. 
These  belonged  to  a  traveling  circus  of  an  American  (Colonel 
Somebody,  whose  name  I  forget),  en  route  to  Panama. 

As  to  tRe  rain,  I  can  not  give  any  idea  of  it :  it  found  its  cata- 
ract-like way  through  the  thick-woven  boughs  of  the  forest,  and 
almost  washed  us  from  our  rnules  where  it  was  more  open.  Do 
not  be  afraid  of  having  any  long  descriptions  of  the  beauty  of 
scenery  on  the  way  to  Cruces ;  through  that  curtain  and  wall  of 
water,  nothing  was  to  be  seen.  It  is  like  going  behind  the  falling 
sheet  of  Niagara,  I  think,  only  there  you  are  comparatively  dry. 
What  a  procession  of  mermaids  on  horseback — I  mean  muleback 
— we  were.  The  holes  our  poor  mules  plunged  in  and  out  of,  are 
frightful  to  think  of  even  at  this  distance  !  Mine  came  down  into 
them  several  times,  but  extricated  himself  and  regained  his  legs 
again.  These  were  not  the  regular  serious  tumbles,  but  only  little 
extra  variations  and  pastimes,  pour  passer  le  temps. 

It  was  partly  a  subterraneous  ride,  such  caverns  and  chasms  did 
we  go  groping  among.  Scrambling  in  and  out  of  these  places 
made  us  about  twice  as  long  as  we  should  have  been  under  other 
circumstances.  Indeed,  it  pretty  nearly  doubled  the  distance ;  and 
by  the  time  we  arrived  at  Cruces,  it  had  been  dusk  about  half  an 
hour.  Our  mules  had  proved  excellent  ones  ;  and  in  taking  leave 
of  their  civil  master,  we  complimented  him  much  on  his  animals. 


CHAPTER  LV. 

The  Hotel  at  Cruces — A  felonious  Cat — The  New  Granadian  Gentlemen — 
Progress  toward  Chagres — Lightning,  Thunder,  and  Rain — Arrival  at 
Chagres — The  dead  American — Quarrels  between  Americans  and  the 
Natives  of  Panama — Humboldt's  Estimate  of  the  Indians — Incredulity  of 
Calitbrriian  Emigrants — Melancholy  Case  of  two  returned  Californians — 
A  beautiful  Sunset — Arrival  at  Jamaica — Kingston — Descent  of  General 
Lopez  on  Cuba — Strange  Eifect  of  it — Reverses  of  Jamaica  Planters — The 
Glories  of  Nature — Creation's  Praise,  a  Poem. 

CRUCES  is  overflowing  with  Americans.  Look  at  that  one  with 
(as  is  often  the  case)  a  paroquet  on  his  hat,  a  monkey  on  his  right 
shoulder,  and  a  squirrel  on  his  left — surely  not  all  the  riches  he  is 
going  to  take  back  to  "  the  States" — who  can  doubt  his  being  a 


A  FELONIOUS  CAT.  447 


true  Connecticut  Yankee,  one  of  those  who  have  occasionally 
manufactured  "  oak  pumpkin-seeds,  so  nateral  that  they  actilly 
sprouted  ?"  These  gentry  almost  invariably  ask  us,  as  we  pass, 
what  State  we  are  from. 

The  little  American  hotel  at  Cruces  was  quite  full,  so  we  passed 
the  night  in  a  native  house.  The  master  was  very  obliging,  and 
so  were  his  family  and  servants  ;  but  the  poor  old  man  had  become 
half  crazy  since  his  wife's  death,  which  had  occurred  a  short  time 
previously.  He  swung  in  his  hammock  in  the  state  room  of  the 
cane  lodge  incessantly — not  that  that,  however,  is  any  proof  of 
madness,  or  the  white  population  of  South  America  would  all  need 
strait  waistcoats  ;  but  his  speech  and  manners  were  incoherent  and 
wandering,  though  he  tried  to  be  civil  and  hospitable. 

The  cabin  consisted  of  two  rooms,  I  believe ;  one,  the  front  room, 
which  served  as  parlor,  dining-room:  dormitory,  and  kitchen,  and 
one  which  was  given  up  to  us.  We  all  passed  a  pretty  good 
night,  though  a  disastrous  adventure  happened.  We  had  a  cold 
chicken,  which  with  biscuits  and  chocolate,  was  to  be  the  next 
morning's  repast.  Soon  after  we  retired  to  rest  a  scuffling  noise 
was  heard  ;  a  plunge  and  a  rattling  of  paper,  in  which  the  ines- 
timable chicken  was  wrapped,  and  a  confused  scramble.  Alas ! 
the  cat  had  entered,  and  carried  off  at  one  fell  swoop  our  intended 
breakfast.  Jeremiads  were  useless.  We  forgot  our  misfortunes  in 
sleep,  and  in  the  morning  got  something  to  supply  the  place  of  our 
lost  chicken,  which  make-shift,  though  not  so  good,  yet  answered 
pretty  well. 

No  time  was  to  be  lost.  At  a  very  early  hour  in  the  morning 
I  sent  to  engage  a  boat,  and  some  owners  of  canoes,  who  I  learned 
were  very  respectable  people,  came  and  agreed  to  take  us  to 
Chagres  for  what  appeared  to  me  a  reasonable  consideration. 
They  promised  to  be  at  Chagres  that  evening,  to  put  up  a  good 
awning,  and  to  prepare  their  boat  as  soon  as  possible  ;  J,  therefore, 
engaged  their  canoe ;  and,  as  is  customary  in  the  Isthmus,  paid 
down  the  money. 

We  waited  a  good  while,  and  I  thought  it  would  be  better  to 
go  down  to  the  shore,  and  hurry  them  a  little  by  personally  super- 
intending the  preparations.  I  found  them  dawdling  most  industri- 
ously ;  but  by  entreaties  and  good  words,  and  patient,  though 
earnest  exhortations  to  them  to  bestir  themselves,  I  accomplished 
my  object,  and  soon  all  was  ready.  The  awning  was  a  far  superior 
one  to  the  vile  trap  we  had  before  in  our  Isthmus  canoe,  and  all 
promised  well. 


448  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

Just  before  we  started,  two  Granadian  gentlemen  came  running 
down  the  bank  with  some  light  baggage,  to  hold  a  parley  with 
the  head-boatman,  who  presently  afterward  came  to  me,  and  be- 
seechingly and  deprecatingly  begged  me  to  allow  him  to  set  these 
caballeros  down  at  a  village  he  named,  not  far  down  the  river : 
without  my  permission,  of  course,  he  said  he  told  them  it  was  im- 
possible ;  but  they  had  been  disappointed,  I  think,  of  a  boat  they 
had  tried  to  get,  and  were  anxious  to  avail  themselves  of  this 
favorable  opportunity. 

Would  not  this  much  retard  us,  by  loading  the  canoe  so  much 
more,  I  wished  to  know  ?  He  assured  me  we  should  not  be  a  mo- 
ment longer  on  account  of  it,  and  it  would  particularly  oblige  them 
and  the  caballeros  if  I  would  give  my  consent.  I  granted  their 
request,  of  course  as  a  great  indulgence,  and  off  we  started,  under 
a  broiling  sun  at  first  (but  that  was  soon  changed  for  deluges  of 
rain)  ;  indeed,  while  I  stood  on  the  shore,  superintending  the  con- 
struction of  the  awning,  I  thought  my  bonnet  would  almost  have 
been  burnt  on  my  head  by  the  intense  rays  of  the  sun. 

The  New  Granadians  soon  arrived  at  their  destination,  paid 
the  boatmen,  and  thanked  me  very  gratefully  and  gracefully  for 
the  permission  I  had  accorded  ;  and  lifting  their  light  sombreros, 
and  murmuring  a  profusion  of  acknowledgments,  away  they  ran 
up  the  bank,  and  away  we  sped  along  the  winding  river. 

Our  boatmen  hurried  on  in  the  highest  good-humor,  and  appa- 
rently determined  I  should  have  no  occasion  to  regret  this  simple 
act  of  complaisance.  The  rain  was  terrific. 

I  said  our  ride  was  a  sort  of  subterranean  grope — through  such 
holes  we  burrowed  along  ;  and  really  our  little  voyage  seemed  a 
kind  of  submarine  navigation,  pleasingly  diversified,  however,  by 
several  awful  storms  of  thunder  and  lightning  ;  but,  alas !  by  no 
coral  bowers,  no  pearly  grots — we  saw,  felt,  heard,  and  were  aware 
of  nothing  but  rain  !  rain  !  rain  !  Umbrellas  were  a  mockery  and 
a  snare.  They  seemed  to  act  like  positive  conductors  of  the  rain- 
lightnings  !  The  very  awning,  which  at  first  sheltered  us,  became 
a  practical  joke  ;  water-proof  cloaks,  tarpaulin,  &c.,  were  mere 
straws  for  the  drowning  to  catch  at. 

We  felt  unresuscitable  by  all  the  Humane  Societies  on  earth. 
They  may  recover  people  half  or  three-quarters  drowned  ;  but  the 
utterly  melted  away — how  could  they  ever  restore  them  to  sub- 
stance and  life  ?  Water-proof!  why,  it  seemed  to  rain  into  the 
very  brain  !  Nothing  but  watery  images  suggested  themselves — 
Niagaras  and  whirlpools,  twirled  mops  and  twisting  maelstroms, 


A  STORM.  449 

Scotch  mists  and  English  pic-nics,  doctors'  strengthening  draughts, 
St.  S within  and  London  milk  (yclept  sky-blue),  soup  at  a  French 
auberge,  Whig  measures,  and  every  thing  wishy-washy  in  the 
world,  till  the  great  globe  itself  appeared  to  be  one  vast  moist 
sponge. 

It  is,  I  believe,  a  fact  that  a  man  chemically  speaking,  is  forty- 
five  pounds  of  carbon  and  nitrogen  diffused  through  five  and  a  half 
pailfuls  of  water,  under  ordinary  circumstances;  but  travelers  in 
the  isthmus,  during  the  rainy  season,  turn  to  twenty  pailfuls  of 
water,  minus  the  nitrogen  and  carbon — at  least  so  I  should  say 
from  appearances.  Such  wretched,  washed-out  individuals  no 
fancy  can  picture.  Nature  had  need  to  work  in  fast  colors  indeed, 
when  she  exposes  her  living  handiwork  to  such  pitiless  pouriags. 

On  we  went,  feeling  past  all  drowning,  dazzled  by  the  terrific 
flashes  of  lightning,  and  half  deafened  by  the  roaring  peals  of  long- 
reverberating  thunder,  like  a  thousand  boomings  of  artillery.  Was 
it  not  all  a  mistake  ]  Had  we  sunk  to  the  bottom  of  the  Pacific, 
which  we  were  so  lately  careering  over  in  smiling  sunshine,  and 
was  a  naval  battle  raging  over  our  heads  ?  Whether  the  glorious 
orchideous  flowers  were  in  bloom,  of  course,  we  knew  not,  or  the 
other  myriads  of  trailers  and  climbers.  Whether  there  were  as 
many  decayed  trees  floating  in  the  river  as  on  our  first  expedition 
we  knew  not : — but  if  so  our  skillful  boatmen  avoided  them 
cleverly. 

The  only  serious  stoppage  we  had  was  coming  in  collision  with 
a  large  boat  full  of  returning  Americans;  our  canoe  was  all  but 
overturned.  The  Americans  and  the  boatmen  called  for  us  to  sit 
perfectly  still,  which  we  did.  Perhaps  at  that  moment,  we 
thought  to  be  more  drowned  was  almost  an  impracticability. 
People  ought  to  traverse  the  Isthmus  during  the  deluge  in  a  div- 
ing-bell. I  wonder  Messrs.  Rundell  and  Bridge's  diving-appara- 
tus was  not  kept  for  that  purpose.  Well !  we  went  on  as  before. 
However,  presently  we  began  to  entertain  a  sort  of  insane  idea 
that  we  might  be  more  drowned  still,  for  we  found  the  boat  was 
frightfully  full  of  water,  and  sinking  fast.  We  shrieked  to  the 
boatmen,  and  pointed  out  the  danger  ;  they  seized  enormous  cala- 
bashes, and  began  bailing  out  as  fast  as  possible.  We  were  so 
deep  that  the  water  of  the  river  seemed  all  but  pouring  over  the 
edge  of  the  boat.  After  that,  constant  bailing  was  resorted  to,  and 
in  due  course  of  time  we  arrived  safely  at  Chagres. 

I  had  much  difficulty  in  persuading  the  boatmen  to  go  to  what 
is  called  the  American  Town  ;  they  declared  it  was  dangerous,  as 


450  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

it  was  already  dark.  They  seemed  afraid  of  the  boat  upsetting 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  However,  on  reconnoitering  as  well  as 
I  could,  I  did  not  agree  with  them,  and  assured  them  it  was  quite 
"  precise"  that  we  should  go  to  the  American  hotel.  After  a  long 
argument  they  consented,  and  in  perfect  safety,  thank  Heaven  ! 
we  arrived,  and  found  the  master  of  the  hotel  standing  on  the 
bank  with  a  lantern,  looking  out  for  boats,  as  the  "  Crescent  City" 
was  to  start  the  next  morning,  and  passengers  were  still  arriving . 
to  go  by  her. 

He  promised  to  do  what  he  possibly  could  for  our  accommo- 
dation, and  finally  we  were  quartered  in  a  very  comfortable 
room,  which  an  American  medical  gentleman  was  obliging  enough 
to  vacate  on  our  account.  We  felt  almost  bound  to  have  the 
Chagres  fever  in  return  for  such  compassionate  disinterestedness — 
but  we  really  had  not  time.  The  room  was  very  nicely  furnished, 
and  its  four  female  occupants  slept  most  soundly  till  it  was  time 
to  rise  and  make  preparations  for  going  on  board  the  steamer. 

When  we  arrived  the  evening  before,  one  of  the  first  questions 
the  master  of  the  American  hotel,  and  one  or  two  other  Ameri- 
cans, who  came  to  ask  for  news,  put  to  us  was  :  "  Did  you  see  a 
dead  body,  tied  to  a  raft,  floating  down  the  stream  1  I  said  we 
had  observed  nothing  of  the  kind — indeed  the  rain  prevented  one 
from  seeing  any  thing.  He  told  me  it  was  the  dead  body  of  an 
American,  who  had  been  stabbed  in  a  quarrel  with  the  natives, 
who  refused  to  bury  it,  or  allow  it  to  be  buried  where  the  affray 
had  taken  place,  but  had  fastened  it  to  a  slight  raft,  and  sent  it 
drifting  down  the  stream.  "  It  will  be  here  at  eight  o'clock  to- 
morrow morning,  we  expect,"  he  added,  coolly  ;  "  and  you  must 
have  passed  it  on  the  road."  I  felt  rather  glad  we  had  not  seen 
the  ghastly  object. 

Some  Americans,  who  had  lately  arrived  at  Chagres,  had 
brought  the  tidings,  and  they  passed  it,  I  believe,  floating  steadily 
down  the  river.  These  quarrels,  unfortunately,  too  often  occur  ; 
and  as  the  Americans  are  generally  armed  to  the  teeth,  with 
bowie-knives  .and  revolvers,  and  the  natives  have  always  at  hand 
the  most  formidable  knives  conceivable,  about  as  long  as  a  man's 
arm,  with  which  they  cut  their  dinner  or  their  foes  in  pieces, 
lamentable  results  frequently  take  place. 

Just  before  we  returned  to  Panama  from  Peru,  a  kind  of  battle 
had  occurred  between  the  Californian  emigrants  and  the  Pana- 
manians. After  a  little  time  the  natives,  who  are  intrepid  to  the 
last  degree  when  ouce  thoroughly  aroused,  cared  no  more  for  the 


QUARRELS  BETWEEN  AMERICANS  AND  NATIVES.     451 

revolvers  than  if  they  had  been  "cigaritos,"  they  watched  their 
opportunities,  rushed  boldly  and  rapidly  up  to  their  opponents  (all 
with  fire-arms  in  their  hands),  and  plunged  their  long  knives  in 
their  breasts.  Four  Americans,  I  was  told,  were  left  dead,  and 
others  grievously  wounded.  This  was  very  melancholy,  but  I 
believe  the  Americans  themselves  say  it  was,  in  the  first  instance, 
the  fault  of  their  countrymen.  They  despise  the  Indians,  and 
look  on  all  colored  people  as  "  Niggers ;"  as  they  call  all  Euro- 
peans, save  English  and  French,  Dutch  (the  Swiss,  Italians, 
Portuguese,  Danes,  are  all  named  alike,  with  one  exception  only — 
and  that  is,  the  Dutch  themselves !  They  call  them,  Hollanders). 
I  was  mentioning  a  Dutchman  once  in  the  United  States,  and 
called  him  so  :  I  was  corrected — "  No  !  he's  a  Hollander." 

I  think  there  is  much  that  is  interesting  in  the  character  of 
these  Indians.  Idle,  dilatory,  and  careless,  unquestionably  they 
are  ;  but  they  appear  thoroughly  hospitable,  full  of  frank,  generous 
susceptibilities  and  gratitude  toward  those  who  treat  them  with 
conciliator}'  gentleness  and  consideration.  Contented  and  peace- 
ful, but  the  bravest  of  the  brave  when  their  blood  is  once  up :  it 
would  seem  the  elements  of  a  right  noble  character  are  there.  I 
say  this  from  the  few  opportunities  of  observation  that  I  have 
had,  not  from  any  prepossession  for  such  "  children  of  Nature"  in 
general. 

I  think  it  is  in  Guiana  that  Humboldt  mentions  (in  talking  of 
the  fancied  primitive  perfection  of  human  nature)  that  it  is  cus- 
tomary, if  a  child  is  sickly,  to  kill  it  to  avoid  the  trouble  of  taking 
care  of  it,  and  to  prevent  its  being  any  impediment  to  hurried 
excursibns  and  removals ;  also,  he  says  of  twins,  one  is  regularly 
destroyed  (as  it  is  considered  infra  dig.  to  be  the  parents  of  twins 
— and  something  "like  rats  and  opossums.")  "  Such,"  exclaims 
Humboldt,  highly  indignant,  "  such  is  that  simplicity  of  manners, 
such  that  boasted  happiness  of  mankind  in  the  natural  state.  A 
man  kills  his  son  to  escape  a  little  ridicule,  or  to  avoid  traveling 
more  slowly — in  fact,  to  get  rid  of  a  trifling  inconvenience." 

We  had  accomplished  our  journey  across  the  Isthmus  in  two 
days,  and  that  in  the  rainy  season  ;  and  we  received  many  com- 
pliments from  the  Americans  on  the  rapidity  with  which  we  had 

made  the  passage.  V was  charmed  with  her  ride  from 

Panama  to  Cruces — perhaps  the  only  person  that  ever  was  or 
ever  will  be. 

The  Americans  are  so  astonished  at  our  not  having  been  to 
California,  they  positively  can  not  believe  it,  it  appears  to  them 


452  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

such  a  pitch  of  preternatural  stupidity.  To  some  it  was  useless 
protesting  we  had  not  keen,  and  had  not  intended  to  go.  I  con- 
vinced one  at  last ;  and  he  said  he  supposed  then  we  really  had 
not  been ;  we  must  have  got  frightened,  or  "  sick,"  at  Panama, 
and  that  made  us  turn  back.  Another,  who  civilly  refrained  from 
contradicting,  soon  after  asked  :  "  And  pray,  ma'am,  did  you  bring 
much  gold  dust  ?  or  perhaps  you  didn't  stay  long  enough  in  Cali- 
fornia." 

We  found  it  pretty  rough  getting  to  the  steamer,  on  the  morn- 
ing of  our  departure  from  Chagres,  and  with  considerable  difficulty 
got  on  board.  A  yellowish-brown  long  line  of  demarkation  shows 
where  the  Chagres  is  lost  in  the  clear  waters  of  the  Carribbean 
Sea.  We  had  delightful  cabins,  with  a  sitting-room,  sofas,  tables, 
every  thing  charmingly  commodious  and  comlbrtable.  The  Cap- 
tain, who  was  as  obliging  as  possible,  sent  us  word  we  should  not 
start  till  night,  as  he  had  learned  many  other  passengers  were  on 
their  way  down  the  river. 

In  the  evening  after  it  was  dark,  there  was  a  sudden  alarm. 
We  heard  a  great  scuffling,  running,  and  shouting  on  deck  ;  and 
presently,  in  extreme  haste,  a  boat  was  lowered  and  pushed  oft'. 
We  remained  watching  in  much  anxiety,  fearing  that  some  boat, 
in  attempting  to  reach  the  steamer  through  the  heavy  surf,  had 
been  upset.  After  some  time  we  were  much  relieved  to  learn 
that  no  lives  had  been  lost.  A  canoe  coming  out  to  the  "  Cres- 
cent City"  had  been  in  the  greatest  danger  of  being  carried  out  to 
the  open  sea,  from  the  boatmen  having  unfortunately  broken  their 
oars,  and  the  boat  thereby  becoming  unmanageable,  and  at  the 
mercy  of  the  waves.  Had  not  their  cries  for  assistance  (which 
was  so  promptly  rendered)  been  heard,  they  must  doubtless  have 
perished. 

There  were  a  number  of  returned  Californians  on  board.  From 
the  glimpses  I  had  of  them,  I  should  say  none  looked  particularly 
happy  or  thoroughly  satisfied  with  their  expedition ;  one  can  not 
always  judge  from  outward  appearances.  There  were  two  very 
melancholy  cases  on  board.  An  elderly  gentleman,  who  had  gone 
mad,  after  losing  nearly  all  he  possessed  through  some  ill-fated 
speculation  in  California.  His  nephew  was  accompanying  him 
home,  and  taking  care  of  him  as  well  as  he  could ;  but  from  exposure, 
I  believe,  and  over  severe  labor  in  the  mines,  he  was  in  the  last 
stage  of  consumption,  and  reduced  almost  to  a  skeleton.  In  this 
miserable  condition  of  hopeless  suffering,  he  was  doomed  to  have 
his  last  days  embittered  by  the  melancholy  spectacle  of  his  afflict- 


BEAUTIFUL  SUNSET.  433 

ed  relative's  malady,  and  forced  to  listen  to  his  wild  ravings  and 
jabberings,  a^d  to  have  the  wearying  charge  and  responsibility  of 
attending  on  him. 

We  had  a  capital  stewardess  on  board  the  "  Crescent  City,"  and 
I  hope  it  will  not  be  thought  I  am  speaking  any  treason  against 
British  maritime  supremacy,  when  I  say  I  think  in  general  the 
American  steamers  have  better  stewardesses  than  the  English  ! 
On  board  the  "  Georgia"  we  had  a  charming  one  too,  a  Welsh 
woman,  rejoicing  in  the  pretty  name  of  Annie  Morgan. 

We  had  two  very  agreeable  fellow-passengers  on  board  the 
"  Crescent  City,"  in  the  shape  of  a  Califbruian  squirrel  and  a 
Chagres  monkey  ;  two  amusing  little  personages  they  were.  (They 
belonged  to  some  gentleman  just  returned  from  El  Dorado).  The 
squirrel,  tame  as  a  kitten,  was  chiefly  composed  of  two  great  black 
eyes  and  a  splendid  bushy  tail.  Jacko  was  the  only  pretty  monkey 
I  ever  saw,  and  not  at  all  mischievous.  The  little  squirrel  was 
extraordinarily  fond  of  warmth  :  though  the  weather  was  almost 
insupportably  hot,  it  would  coil  itself  round  into  the  very  heart  of 
shawls  and  cloaks  (thrown  on  the  sofas  or  camp-stools)  whenever 
it  wished  to  sleep. 

We  saw  a  most  singularly  beautiful  sunset  one  evening  on  our 
passage  hither.  The  sea  became  of  a  wonderfully  rich  color,  neither 
exactly  purple,  nor  lilac,  nor  crimson,  nor  violet,  nor  rose-color,  but 
an  extraordinary  mixture  of  all  these,  a  most  regal  and  exquisite 
hue,  which  I  think  must  most  nearly  resemble  the  Tyrian  purple 
of  old.  I  never  saw  such  a  color  but  once  or  twice  before,  I  think, 
in  my  life.  It  continued  some  time  without  variation,  and  then, 
softly  died  away  in  beautifully  fine  gradations.* 

It  was  charming,  watching  this  and  other  lovely  effects  of  morning 
and  evening  light,  reminding  us  of  our  delightful  Pacific  days  and 
evenings  (though  this  sea  was  not  so  smooth  or  grand).  Looking 
on  such  fair  sights,  with  the  many  sea-noises  and  sea-changes 

*  We  afterward  saw  at  Kingston,  Jamaica,  when  driving  one  day  with 
our  truly  kind  friends  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart,  a  far  more  magnificent  sunset; 
one  so  awfully  grand,  that  I  feel  it  is  hopeless  to  attempt  to  convey  any  im- 
pression of  it.  It  was  after  a  terrific  thunder-storm.  Behind  the  clouds, 
which  were  piled  in  mountainous  masses  one  above  the  other  (and  still  as 
if  on  and  on,  forever,  showing  a  higher  stratum  of  others  between — height 
above  height,  glimpse  beyond  glimpse,  vista  behind  vista),  a  thousand  color- 
ed suns  of  glory  seemed  flashing,  beaming  through  those  wondrous  and 
gorgeous  transparencies.  Ml  hues  were  there,  from  the  most  vivid  scarlet 
and  burning  crimson  and  purple,  to  the  softest  azure  and  palest  green ; 
every  shade  of  gold  and  orange,  and  every  tint  conceivable  and  inconceivable. 


454  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

around,  what  dreams,  what  visions,  what  phantasies  visit  the 
soothed  yet  awakened  mind  1  what  a  world  of  wonders  is  around 
us  !  how  full  seems  all  of  meaning,  beauty,  mystery,  and  eloquence 
— how  full  indeed !  Ay,  and  if  man  could  suddenly  be  endowed 
with  a  hundred  additional  senses  beside  his  small  allowance  of 
five,  he  would  doubtless  find  an  endless  multiplicity  of  objects 
around,  fitted  for  their  perception  only  and  delight,  that  he  has 
been  unconscious  of,  as  the  blind  of  beauty  and  the  deaf  and  dumb 
of  music  and  sweet  speech  In  this  life  mortals  are  prisoners  in 
very  narrow  cells,  which  are  furnished  with  very  few  chinks. 
But  I  must  not  even  in  this  trifling  degree,  ramble  from  my  pur- 
pose of  keeping  strictly  to  plain  narrative  and  a  matter-of-fact 
relation. 

When  we  arrived  at  Jamaica  I  was  much  struck  by  its  noble 
outline  of  mountains.  The  entrance  to  the  harbor  of  Kingston  is 
exceedingly  fine.  The  Blue  Mountains  rise  in  some  places  to  about 
eight  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  run  longitudin- 
ally through  the  island  from  east  to  west. 

We  have  as  yet  seen  hardly  any  thing  of  Jamaica.  It  seems  to 
possess  lovely  and  greatly-diversified  scenery.  The  mountains  so 
amphitheatrically  encircling  the  fertile  plains  on  which  Kingston 
is  built,  we  see  from  our  windows.  Our  old  African  friend,  the 
date  palm,  seems  to  flourish  here.  There  is  a  fine  one  in  one  of 
the  streets  close  to  an  hotel,  called  from  it  "  Date-tree  House ;" 
but  I  have  seen  no  dates.  It  is  probably  not  the  season.  Man- 
goes (of  which  the  best  is  a  sort  called  commonly  ' '  N umber  Eleven' ' ) 
abound,  and  are  very  good.  There  seem  to  be  various  lovely 
acacias  on  all  sides,  calabash-trees,  and  the  pretty  lignum  vitse, 
with  its  countless  heaps  of  little  azure  blossoms  ;  the  allspice,  or 
Jamaica  pepper- tree,  and  numbers  of  our  Isthmus  vegetable  friends. 
But  I  must  wait  to  see  more  before  I  give  any  description. 

When  we  first  landed,  I  was  sorry  to  learn  from  the  courteous 
agent  of  the  American  Steam  Company  here,  that  the  Bishop  has 
lately  left  the  island,  and  that  his  daughter  is  very  ill. 

They  seem  to  have  delicious  breezes  almost  constantly  blowing 
here,  but  lately  it  has  been  very  dry.  Last  evening  it  rained 
heavily,  and  as  about  a  hundred  windows  were  open  in  all  direc- 
tions, in  rushed  a  number  of  colored  damsels  in  turbans,  armed 
with  divers  mops,  and  contrivances  of  the  kind,  to  wipe  up  purling 
rivulets  that  were  meandering  prettily  about  the  floor  (for  the 
windows  had  defied  our  efforts  to  close  them  ;  and,  besides,  it  was 
suffocatingly  hot)  and  they  fastened  down  some  of  the  windows, 


KINGSTON.  455 


but  the  rain  trickled  abundantly  through,  notwithstanding.  To 
our  astonishment  (who  felt  something  like  a  party  of  antediluvians 
running  away  from  the  pursuing  Flood  ;  or  I  should  say  perhaps, 
like  a  set  of  feminine  Noahs,  or  Noah's  doves,  or  any  other  inhab- 
itants of  the  ark,  gladly  escaping  to  the  dry  land),  they  burst  out 
into  joyful  exclamations  about  the  rain,  congratulating  themselves 
and  us  (on  rain  !)  and  the  goats  and  pigs,  and  ducks,  too,  methinks, 
as  they  looked  out  of  the  windows — and  snuffed  it  up  as  something 
rare  and  precious. 

One  very  black,  smiling  maiden,  showing  her  glittering  teeth 
from  ear  to  ear,  could  not  rejoice  enough — or  wish  us  joy  enough 
of  this  rain  (stupendous  insult !) — working  away  very  hard  all  the 
time  to  wipe  away  the  little  brooks  and  streamlets.  "  Berry  nice, 
oh,  berry,  dis  good  rain."  Now  that  is  a  disinterested  philan- 
thropic, patriotic  mortal.  The  more  she  had  to  labor,  the  more 
she  liked  it,  for  it  was  for  the  good  of  her  country  and  her  fellow- 
mortals  !  She  rubbed  and  scrubbed,  and  laughed  and  smiled,  and 
chuckled  and  crowed  and  quacked  and  chattered,  all  glee  and 
good-humor,  a  perfect  duck  of  a  woman  in  two  senses.  Really 
the  Isthmus  St.  Swithin  had  better  come  here  to  be  made  much  of. 
I  have  received  a  most  courteous  and  hospitable  invitation  from 
Sir  Charles  Grey,  to  remain  at  the  King's  House,  during  my  stay 
in  Jamaica.  We  shall  avail  ourselves  of  his  kindness,  and  go  there 
to-morrow. 

Kingston  does  not  at  all  give  me  the  idea  of  an  unwholesome 
climate.  I  hear  the  cholera  is  committing  frightful  ravages  at  the 
Havana.  Here,  they  say,  they  are  not  alarmed  at  all,  as  it  has 
never  been  here,  though  it  has  before  been  in  Cuba.  I  advise  them 
not  to  be  too  siye  yet.  The  cholera  is  said  never  to  have  passed 
the  Equator,  but  this  year  it  has  crept  very  near  to  it,  and  may 
have  crossed  the  line  by  this  time.  The  last  we  heard  of  it,  it 
was  near  Bogota,  and  creeping  onward,  it  was  said. 
f  I  found  a  very  interesting  letter  here  from  Havana,  giving  me 
the  particulars  of  the  late  American  invasion  of  the  island  of  Cuba, 
One  singular  fact  is  mentioned  in  it.  I  do  not  know  that  it  has 
been  remarked  upon  in  any  of  the  newspapers,  so  I  repeat  it.  I 
am  assured  that  it  is  quite  correct.  As  soon  as  the  alarm  was 
given  in  Havana  of  the  landing  of  General  Lopez  and  his  follow- 
ers, the  cholera,  which  had  been  raging  there  with  terrible  violence, 
stopped  as  if  by  rnagic.  The  streets  had  been  crowded  with  fune- 
rals ;  not  one  was  to  be  seen.  A  counter-panic  chased  away  this 
dreadful  visitor  for  a  short  space  of  time.  After  a  few  days,  when 


456  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 

all  the  alarm  had  entirely  subsided,  and  no  further  apprehensions 
were  entertained — when,  in  short,  the  island  and  the  city  returned 
to  their  propriety,  the  cholera  again  resumed  its  interrupted  sway. 
It  might  have  been  only  a  coincidence,  but  I  think  there  is  but 
little  if  any  doubt  that  the  interregnum  \ras  occasioned  by  that 
mental  counter-irritation  :  the  mind  and  imagination  have  so  much 
to  do  in  predisposing  persons  to  take  such  disorders. 

There  are  numerous  coolies  here,  male  and  female.  These 
Hindoos  are  very  striking  and  picturesque-looking  people. 

Kingston  looks  as  if  it  ought  to  be  a  magnificent  place,  and  had 
once  been  so,  but  has  the  appearance  of  being  not  only  dilapidated 
but  depopulated  and  deserted.  The  chief  streets  are  still  very 
handsome,  with  villa-like  houses,  veranda'd  and  terraced,  running 
back  from  the  road,  and  with  gateways  and  gardens  generally. 
The  people  who  knew  Kingston  formerly  mourn  over  it,  and  say  : 
"  In  past  times,  before  our  ruin,  this  main  street  was  the  gayest 
of  the  gay,  the  busiest  of  the  busy  :  an  incessant  roll  of  carriages 
and  sugar-laden  carts  resounded  through  it." 

The  last  terrible  blow  at  the  prosperity  of  Jamaica  was  the  vile 
Slave-grown  Sugar  Bill,  which  combined  in  so  remarkable  a  degree 
the  iniquitous  with  the  ridiculous.  Poor  Jamaica !  how  deeply 
she  has  suffered  !  I  hear  that  many  once  rich  planters  have  gone 
to  spend  their  last  days  in  obscure  corners,  to  starve  unknown,  and 
die  incognito.  Alas  !  with  perhaps  a  curse  on.  their  lips  for  the 
unnatural  mother-country,  who  has  cut  away  the  last  prop  and 
support  from  under  them.  If  the  reader  wishes  to  know  where 
the  deepest  hatred  can  be  felt  against  England,  let  him  go  to  her 
own  ill-used  colonies.  I  sincerely  hope  something  may  yet  be  done 
for  this  lovely,  unhappy  island.  How  we  must  misgovern — how 
we  must  have  a  very  genius  for  perverting  Fortune's  best  gifts, 
and  for  mismanaging  those  splendid  possessions  we  acquire  with  so 
much  labor  and  glory,  to  injure  and  destroy  (as  far  as  we  can), 
with  so  much  shame.  When  shall  we,  for  their  sake  and  our 
own,  change  our'  most  detestable  policy,  or  rather  impolicy  ?  But 
I  will  try  and  turn  to  the  beauties  of  nature,  and  not  the  follies  of 
man,  who  so  often  defaces  her  noblest  loveliness. 

Ever  glorious  is  Nature  !  What  wonders  have  we  lately  be- 
held of  her  lavish  luxury  of  profusion,  her  inexhaustible  treasury 
of  glories  and  enchantments,  her  array  of  stately  triumphs  !  What 
gratitude  should  glow  in  the  heart  and  spirit  of  man  when  looking 
on  all  the  consummate  works  of  Heaven,  scattered  with  such  gra- 


CREATIONS  PRAISE. 


cious  liberality  at  his  feet,  to  bless  his  eyes,  to  cheer  his  thoughts, 
to  elevate  his  mind,  and  array  his  path  to  immortality  with  that 
glory  which  seems  worthy  of  an  immortal,  making  the  world  like 
the  vestibule  of  heaven  for  those  whose  thoughts  draw  beauty  from 
beauty,  and  add  majesty  to  majesty. 

But  how  often,  when  the  mighty  mother  most  appealingly  calls 
on  him  does  he  turn  away.  Mountains  and  forests,  lakes,  savan- 
nas, clouds,  flowers,  stars,  valleys,  lightnings,  seas — all  mirror 
one  great  truth,  all  breathe  one  eternal  hymn  !  Nature  is  a  per- 
petual oratorio  ! 

CREATION'S  PRAISE. 


Immemorial  gray  mountains !  up-towering  and  free, 
Like  the  hierarchs  of  Nature  still  seem  they  to  be ; 
Ah  !  no  Atlases  bearing  one  Earth's  pretty  weight, 
All  the  Firmament's  pride  seem  their  burden  and  freight. 


All  its  Earths  !  all  its  Heav'ns  !  its  vast  galaxied  field, 

Where  crowned  splendors  on  splendors  shine  thronged  and  revealed. 

Soar  aloft,  kingly  mountains !  ay.  fearless  they  soar, 

And  sustaining  that  glory's  dread  burden,  adore ! 


Yea,  they  prdise  Thee,  O  Lord  of  those  Firmaments ! — King 
Of  the  fair  worlds  around,  like  fresh  fountains  that  spring ; 
Their  pure  crests  seem  to  praise  Thee,  and  each  hallowed  air. 
That  awakes,  like  a  breath  fresh  from  Paradise,  there. 


Ocean !  glassing  those  heavens,  and  thus  bringing  them  down 
As  to  blend  with  oar  world — nearer  Glory  and  Crown  ! 
Dost  thou  lift  not  thy  thousand-toned  voice  evermore, 
In  strong  orisons,  Ocean  !  from  shore  pealed  to  shore ! 


Not  a  murmur,  a  moan,  but  where  heaven-music  dwells, 
Haunting  thet,  as  thy  memory,  thine  own  rainbow'd  shells ; 
Not  a  wave  but  hath  mirrored  the  deep-glancing  scene, 
Where  the  shadows  of  Hosts  of  Immortals  have  been ! 


And  ye,  Stars !  do  ye  breathe  not  in  light  and  in  fire — 
(As  though  each  were  some  angel-bardrs  far-beaming  lyre), 
That  bright  order,  and  beauty,  and  harmony  move. 
For  aye,  in  the  steps  of  the  Source  of  all  Love. 


458  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 


And  thou  MAN  !  dost  t hou  praise  Him  by  acts  and  by  words  ? 
Dost  thou  thrill  to  thy  being's  own  innermost  chords  ? 
Doth  thy  soul  to  those  long  "  Hallelujahs"  reply, 
Rolled  in  thunder  and  flame  through  all  Earth  and  all  Sky  ? 


Man  !  too  oft  while  great  Nature  seems  proffering  her  shrine 
For  the  pomp  of  full  spirit-oblations  divine; 
From  her  voice,  and  thine  own1  holiest  happiness  here, 
Thou  turn'st  back  with  weak  scorn,  self-unjust  and  severe. 


While  the  darkly-magnificent  heavens  01  the  night  — 
While  the  morning  star,  heralding  joyaunce  and  light- 
While  the  storms  —  while  the  seas  —  while  the  deserts  and  plains, 
Proclaim  with  eternal  Hosannas,  "  He  reigns  !"  "**• 


The  One — silent,  deaf,  senseless,  'midst  things  He  hath  made, 
Still  seems  Man  !  who  like  monarch  of  all  He  arrayed, 
O'er  whose  head  He  stretched  roofs,  hung  with  suns  and  with  flame, 
At  whose  feet  such  a  world,  his  heart's  homage  to  claim ! 


Shall  the  universe  one  glorious  unison  be, 

All  uniting  in  rapture  of  worship,  save  thee? 

Shall  far  worlds — severed  spaces — strange  elements  join 

In  one  deep  diapason  of  homage  divine  ? 


And  shalt  thou  dwell  apart,  and  thy  worship  retain, 
Perchance  for  those  Works  that  His  voice  did  ordain, 
Perchance  for  thyself,  and  the  pomps,  shows,  and  joys 
Of  the  swift,  arrowy  life  which  a  moment  destroys. 


For  those  Works  that  are  Worships  themselves  !  that  point  still 
Upward — heavenward — the  children  of  His  mighty  will ! 
Works  that  cease  not  by  day  and  by  night  to  proclaim, 
E'en  out-thundering  all  thunder,  His  praise  and  His  Name! 

xiv. 

And  thyself!  while  eSch  power  that  thou  vauntest  is  given 
Direct  from  the  o'erflovving  rich  treasuries  of  heaven, 
And  thy  fast-fleeting  life  is  but  lent  thee  to  lead 
To  the  life  everlasting — the  true  life,  indeed ! 


4 

CREATION'S  PRAISE.  458 

xv. 

Immemorial  proud  mountains !  stoop  lower  your  crest , 
Be  ashamed  for  the  Earth  and  its  vile  human  guest  1 
Billowy  Ocean !  be  silent !  roll  onward  in  peace  ! 
Bid  your  stormy,  august  "Hallelujahs"  to  cease! 


Stoop !  thou  Mountain  !  but  not  for  the  weight  or  the  might 

Of  the  far-stretching  firmaments — height  piled  on  height ! 

Stoop !  since  cv'n,  from  earth's  floor  to  heaven's  blue  glistering  roof, 

Thou  still  hurl'st  'gainst  mankind  thine  all-righteous  reproof ! 


Hush !  thou  Ocean  !  but  not  that  the  songs  of  the  spheres — 
That  the  strains  of  the  blest  pierce  through  time's  rushing  years ! 
Hush !  since  each  lightest  murmur  of  homage  from  thee 
Seems  reproach  to  thy  scornful  clay-rulers  to  be. 


Be  the  contrast  less  striking — th'  upbraidings  less  stern  I—- 
Pale— ye  great  crowning  Fires  of  the  Firmaments !  burn, 
Pale  and  faint ! — so  be  all  things  less  grandly  sublime — 
Thus  thy  consciousness,  Nature,  shall  crown  not  our  crime! 


Stars  ! — ye  heavens  in  the  heavens ! — all  of  joy,  love,  and  light- 
Hide  your  sovereign,  sublime  tribulations  from  sight ! 
Dare  we  gaze  on  your  spheres,  stirred  all  over  with  love, 
While  ourselves  and  our  brethren  thus  gracelessly  move  ? 


Thunder,  Whirlwind,  and  Earthquake  !  ye  too — lords  of  doom  !- 
Shout  the  march  of  His  might,  midst  your  grandeur  of  gloom  ! 
Ye  too  lift  up  your  voices  of  terror  to  cry, 
"Hail  to  Him  who  above  all  the  highest  is  high !" 


Old  war-chanots  of  Storm  and  the  Whirlwinds !  delay  I—- 
Or bear  up  thousand  hopes  of  man's  soul  on  your  way. 
Not  a  wind  on  its  course  of  rejoicing  but  sings 
Of  Immortal,  Transcendent,  Omnipotent  things  I 


And  on  trifles  and  toys  still  we  wander  intent, 
And  few  tones  with  those  thousand  high  tones  have  we  blent ! 
And  we  hoard  in  our  hearts,  ashy  treasures  and  things, 
That  drag  earthward  our  souls  from  the  joy  of  their  wings. 


460  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 


Mighty  Forests  !  what  strength  of  devotion  is  there ! 
Lo !  their  countless  leaves  thrill  as  with  passionate  prayer, 
While  the  shadows,  the  silence,  the  depths  are  o'erspread, 
With  an  hundred  Great  Presences,  sacred  and  dread. 


Peace — let  w*  only  listen,  and  fling  earth's  dull  cares, 
Away  from  our  minds  till  they  tremble  to  prayers ; 
And  the  far-sounding  chorus  shall  evermore  ring, 
Raised  in  honor  profound  of  Their  King,  and  Our  King ! 


Joy — Creation's  grand  hymn  hath  ne'er  ceased  to  be  sung, 
'Tis  resounded — repeated — no  harp  is  unstrung ; 
In  yon  hollow-voiced  thunder  it  lives  and  it  rolls ; 
Joy ! — if  ice  will  but  listen,  'twill  peal  to  our  souls. 


Morning  hymn  of  creation  !  each  cadence  and  word 

By  the  quick  ear  of  Faith  is  still  thrillingly  heard, 

And  new  Birth-hymns  of  later  Creations  beside, 

That  we  dream  not  and  glimpse  not — swell  the  outpouring  tide. 


Hark!  'tis  "Holy!"  still  "Holy!"  and  "Holy!"  again; 
Worlds  commence — worlds  take  up  the  Majestical  Strain — 
Worlds  commence — worlds  continue  the  Wonderful  Hymn, 
Till  the  skies  and  their  orbs  are  all  perished  and  dim  ! 

XX  VIII. 

The  Great  Truth  that  shone  out  with  the  rays  of  young  light. 
It  shines  out  still  as  clear,  with  as  searching  a  might ; 
And  can  we  e'er  be  blind  to  its  splendors  intense  ? 
When  if  we  will  but  look,  oh !  'twill  blaze  to  our  sense. 

xxix. 

Watch  the  eagle  and  lark  on  their  proud  sunward  flight, 
Their  blue  pathways  all  strewn  o'er  with  gold-bloom  and  light ; 
Think  ye  they  bear  the  freight  of  their  own  joy  alone  ? 
With  earth's  deep  soul  of  prayer  and  of  praise  they  have  flown ! 


From  her  hills — from  her  rocks — from  her  hoarse-sounding  woods, 
From  her  free  trackless  wilds,  and  her  loud  torrent-floods ; 
Fervent  breathings  of  strong  adoration  are  borne, 
To  ruffle  the  orient  pavilions  of  morn ! 


CREATION'S  PRAISE. 


Soaring  messengers  !  harrying  on  high  to  convey 
Quick  jubilant  hints  to  the  blue  realms  of  Day, 
Oh !  how  dead  are  their  hearts  who  no  fair  greetings  send, 
With  the  punctual,  plumed  courier's  high  service  to  blend. 


And  not  only  the  Morn  and  the  Noon  seem  to  bear, 
A  rich,  deep  weight  of  worship  that  halloweth  the  air ; 
But  the  dusk,  regal  Night,  in  her  mystical  sway, 
A  proud  rivalry  boasteth  and  challengeth  Day. 


Yea  !  dark,  gorgeous,  magnificent  heavens  of  Old  Night, 
Where  Time's  self  seems  Eternity,  shown  us  aright  j 
Jill  thy  Suns  have  their  Uriels,  and  breathe  far  around 
Lofty  tidings  for  souls  not  in  death-trance  profound. 


To  the  Sabaoth  of  Systems  in  awful  array, 
Beleaguering  our  dull  sense— enlightniog  our  way ; 
Shall  Indifference  dare  still  her  base  weapons  oppose, 
And  confront  the  confederate  Creations  as  foes  ? 


Glorious  Nature !  too  oft  man  deals  death  on  his  soul — 
Thought  and  mind — wrenched  from  thy  solemn,  life-full  control; 
With  dim  ashes  strewn  o'er  them — vile  taints,  chains  and  tears, 
Through  that  dark  vale  of  shadows,  where  glide  our  vain  years. 


From  thy  shrine,  mightiest  mother,  they  turn,  and  forsake 
All  thy  haunts — all  thy  hoards — thy  great  compact  they  break. 
Hollow  sepulchres  then  of  themselves  e'en  they  seem— 
Ah  !  no  temple  of  Thee,  and  no  palace  of  Dream ! 


Then  high  visions  forsake  them,  and  splendors  of  thought, 
With  immortal  delights  and  rich  promises  fraught ; 
Queen  1 — thy  kingdoms,  illustrious  with  treasure  ! — no  more 
Then  imparadise  life  wkh  their  fresh,  boundless  store. 


The  Immemorial  Gray  Mountains  are  dust  in  their  sight, 
And  discrowned  Constellations  seem  emptied  of  light; 
Dead  lies  Ocean ! — for  them  Heaven  is  furled  as  a  scroll, 
Nature  ! — know  thine  Unbuilder ! — a  world-stricken  Soul  1 


462  TRAVELS  IN  AMERICA. 


XXXIX. 


Where  should  be  thy  throne  is  thy  sepulchre  cold, 
And  not  there  spread  thy  banners  and  pageants  unrolled 
But  a  deep  funeral  darkness,  or  vapory  display, 
Of  the  gauds  of  a  moment — the  pomps  of  a  day  1 


And  the  Mountains  still  point  to  the  Firmaments  far — 
And  those  Firmaments  tremble  with  star  linked  to  star; 
And  still  Deep  cries  to  Deep,  and  the  Clouds  and  the  Storms, 
All  repeat  awful  tidings — reflect  mystic  forms. 


And  ten  thousand  great  scnemes  and  vast  systems  around 
In  one  broad  Act  of  Homage  incessant,  are  bound ; 
"  Dust  to  dust !"  ever  darkens  our  brief  earthly  day- 
Worlds  on  Worlds  ever  beckon  us  upward — a  way ! 


Wake !  0  Man !     Populations  and  nations,  awake  ! 
Your  glad  part  in  the  unbounded,  dread  chorus  to  take ; 
They  have  ages  to  breathe  Adoration's  high  strain — 
Ye  have  hours — and  thus  dare  ye  unquickened  remain  ? 


Join  the  iiymn  !  swell  the  unbounded,  undying  acclaim : 
Glory,  honor,  and  praise  to  the  One  glorious  Name  : 
While  all  majesties,  powers,  thrones,  existences  tend 
To  Truth's  bright  consummation — still  world  without  end. 


While  on  universe — universe  heaped  and  amassed, 
Burst  and  bound  to  proud  being  and  birth,  free  and  fast — 
That  yet  all,  the  grand  anthem  of  all,  thus  may  join, 
And  exalt  their  great  Maker's  dread  honors  divine  ! 

XLV. 

Ay !  on  universe — universe  gathered  and  heaped 

To  their  life  of  stupendous  transcendence  have  leaped ; 

Till — (while  each  lauds  His  glory,  with  powers  more  supreme), 

Some  New  Chaos  of  very  Creations  they  seem. 


Even  a  Chaos  of  very  Creations ! — so  blent 
In  unknown  complications,  through  th'  endless  extent. 
Lord  of  Lords !     Oh !  thou  God  of  all  Gods  !  they  can  be 
But  the  veriest  faint  shade  of  a  shadow  of  Thee ! 


CREATION'S  PRAISE.  469 


Ah  !  as  far  as  our  frail,  iettered  senses  allow, 

Let  us  gaze  on  the  scenes  of  their  wonders  e'en  now, 

Where  the  heavens  burn  with  stars — maze  thick  crowded  on  maze, 

Till  All  Space  to  One  Sun  seems  to  brighten  and  blaze. 


Oratorio  of  Nature !     Oh,  strike  our  dull  ears ! 

With  our  souls  let  us  list  to  your  anthems,  ye  spheres ; 

Let  your  sun-blazoned  oriflammes  lead  us  on — on, 

Till  Earth's  conflict  is  o'er,  and  Heaven's  victory  is  won ! 


Is't  enough  ?     Oh,  if  not,  look,  thou  mortal,  within, 

Through  those  deep  mists  of  doubt — through  the  dark  clouds  of  sin; 

And  behold  the  vast  scene  of  thine  own  awful  soul, 

To  the  ken  of  a  hushed  contemplation  unroll  I 


THE    END 


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